Cincinnati Metropolitan Area
A graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a B.S. in Honors Physics in Medicine, I am committed to improving tumor control and patient outcomes through radiation science, a focus shaped by cancer’s presence in my family and among the hospice patients I have served. Through formative research experiences in the Notre Dame Radiation Laboratory and the Radiation Oncology departments at MD Anderson Cancer Center and UT Southwestern Medical Center, I have developed both theoretical and experimental proficiencies toward this aim. As a Churchill Scholar, Goldwater Scholar, Amgen Scholar, and CPRIT CURE Scholar, I intend to further expand my research acumen at the University of Cambridge before embarking on an MD/PhD dual degree. At the conclusion of my training, I hope to improve patient lives and invigorate new approaches to cancer treatment as a physician-scientist of radiation oncology.
At the Barrett Cancer Center of UC Health, I support the admission and onboarding of patients receiving radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Using Epic Hyperspace, I verify and update patient records, facilitate clinical workflow, and help ensure a smooth, compassionate care experience for patients entering treatment. I also participate in weekly seminars focused on contemporary advances in cancer care.
Under the tutelage of Professor Sylwia Ptasinska, I investigate dissociative electron attachment (DEA), a process wherein low-energy electrons are resonantly captured by and induce the fragmentation of molecules. DEA mediates macromolecular damage during medical radiotherapies, often to unintentional targets. My studies aim to elucidate the dynamics and fragmentation channels of DEA to salient biomolecules and chemical motifs. This is accomplished experimentally with mass spectrometry and theoretically with density functional theory. My studies employ two experimental apparatuses: (1) an apparatus equipped with a thermionic electron source and quadrupole mass spectrometer as well as (2) an apparatus equipped with an electron gun and a velocity map imaging spectrometer. The prior setup generates ion-yield curves with high sensitivity; the latter setup measures the kinetic and angular distributions of anions formed from DEA. Density functional theory analysis is conducted with the B3LYP functional and aug-cc-PVTZ basis sets: here, we compute reaction threshold energies that can verify the plausibility of DEA channels. Previous and ongoing studies have investigated DEA to aromatic systems, the molecular family of carbonates, and aliphatic disulfide species. These studies are motivated by biological significance: electron mediated damage to those studies model radio-therapy induced damage to ubiquitous bio-structures.
As an Amgen Scholar at UT Southwestern Medical Center, I worked in the lab of Dr. Todd Aguilera (MD/PhD, Dept. of Radiation Oncology) to develop a proof-of-concept for a novel application of phage display: screening for proteins that modulate T-cell activity. I engineered nanobody-expressing phage, validated constructs through Gibson assembly and Nanopore sequencing, amplified phage in E. coli, and designed/employed a flow cytometry assay to sort T-cells by CD69 activation. While validating controls, my work demonstrated the feasibility of adapting phage display toward functional immunotherapy screening. This experience strengthened my skills in molecular cloning, sequencing, immunology, and cytometry, and deepened my MSTP ambitions at the intersection of radiation and immunology.
Over a ten-week research position in the MD Anderson Cancer Center Department of Experimental Radiation Oncology, I worked in the lab of Dr. Steven H. Lin and investigated differential levels of macrophage cytokine expression induced by varying radiotherapy dose rates. This project employed in vitro human PBMC and in vivo murine lung tissue models. A Mobetron Electron-beam IORT irradiated samples at the following independent variable levels: (1) no radiation, (2) 17 Gy at rate of 0.1 Gy/sec, or (3) 17 Gy at rate of 100 Gy/sec. Western Blots and ELISA Assays indicated that a “FLASH Effect” characterizes the expression of IL-6, suggesting a powerful dynamism between radiation dose rate and immune response. This project bolstered my fascination with radiation oncology research. At the program's end, I presented a poster entitled "Differential Expression of Tumorigenic Cytokines in Human and Murine Macrophages: Effects of FLASH vs. Conventional Radiation Therapy" at the CATALYST Poster Symposium. That work was the recipient of the 1st Poster Prize.