After completing my Internal Medicine training at Johns Hopkins in the Osler Medical Program (2005-2008), I subsequently completed Hematology/Oncology training at MD Anderson Cancer Center Fellowship Program (MDACC; 2008-2011). I was selected as a Chief Fellow in my second year of fellowship training. I obtained ABIM board certification in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Oncology, and continued my career at MDACC as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Leukemia (start date 07/2011). In September 2017, I was promoted to Associate Professor in the Department of Leukemia. I maintain an active clinical schedule, during which I see patients 2-full days per week; including 2-months of inpatient service per year. I have fellow teaching responsibilities as the Leukemia Hematology/Oncology Course Director and was the sole recipient of the MDACC Gerald P. Bodey Award for Excellence in Education in 2020. I was recognized as our institution’s Faculty Educator of the Quarter in December 2022.
My clinical/translational research work has been focused on improving outcomes and developing novel therapies for patients with rare, and ultra-rare, myeloid malignancies; including adolescents, young adults, and older adult patients with Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm (BPDCN), Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (MPN) and Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). I have authored/co-authored over 265 publications in the medical literature (all available in PubMed). I have presented our group's work, as first author, in oral presentations at numerous national/international meetings: ASCO, ASH, EHA, AACR. Under the direct mentorship of Dr. Hagop Kantarjian, and Dr. Marina Konopleva, I have established our group's first, active, BPDCN clinic; which now serves as a worldwide referral base and has brought in many new patients to MDACC. This clinic continues to expand as one of the world’s most active BPDCN research programs with dedicated infrastructure and ample support for clinical and translational studies. For these efforts, I have been named MDACC’s, Department of Leukemia, Inaugural Director of BPDCN Program, in 2020. I am the PI/co-PI of many active clinical trials in the Leukemia department, for a translational sample study of patients with BPDCN, and was awarded a grant for identifying prognostic biomarkers in patients with BPDCN. I have developed key collaborative projects and lead groups in the areas BPDCN, MPN and AML, with clinical, hematopathology and dermatopathology teams; both internally and externally. I serve as our department’s Executive Director for the MDACC Network, helping to improve and expand upon leukemia and malignant hematology collaborations and clinical trials networking, and am an active member of the ASH Communications Committee, currently serving a 4-year term.