Professional Activities:

Employment

Assistant Professor, Departments of Urology and Cancer Genetics                                   12/2012- Present
Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York

Clinical Assistant Professor of Urology, University at Buffalo                                             12/2012- Present
State University of New York

Honors/Awards

• General Research Loan Repayment Awardee -July 2010
  National Institutes of Health. (declined)
• Gerald P. Murphy Prostate Scholar-March 2010
  American Urological Association                  
• Third Prize, Annual Audio-Visual Award -May 2009
  American Urological Association Annual Meeting
  “Prospective Comparison of Perioperative and Pathologic Outcomes between Robotic and Open Radical Cystectomy
• First Prize, Basic Science Investigation-March 2009
  New York Section of the American Urological Association-Ferdinand C. Valentine Residents’ Essay Contest:“Expression of BCF Receptors, Toll-Like Receptors 2 and 4 in Human Bladder Cancer”
• Best Poster, Technology and Instruments: Ureteroscopy/Laparoscopy-May 2008
  American Urological Association Annual Meeting:
  “Experience with Robotic-Assisted Laparoscopic Radical Cystectomy”
• Best Poster, Kidney Cancer Basic Research-May 2008
  American Urological Association Annual Meeting:
  “KAI is a Novel Marker for Chromophobe Renal Cell Carcinoma”
• First Prize, Basic Science Investigation-March 2008
  New York Section of the American Urological Association-Ferdinand C. Valentine Residents’ Essay Contest:
  The Immuno- Modulatory Drug, Imidazoquinoline, Inhibits Tumor Growth and Enhances Lymphocytic Infiltration of Renal Cell Carcinoma in a Syngeneic Mouse Model”
• Pre-Doctoral Cancer Research Training Award (CRTA)-July 1998
  National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health:
  “Mutational Screening of Candidate Prostate Cancer Tumor Suppressor Genes on Chromosome 8p21”
• Magna Cum Laude Graduation Honors- Pomona College-May 1998
• Distinction for Independent Research in Molecular Biology- Pomona College-May 1998
• Phi Beta Kappa
  Pomona College Chapter- March 1998          
• Summer Medical and Research Training (SMART) Award
  Baylor College of Medicine: “Effect of Androgen Ablation on Fibroblast Growth Factor Expression in Prostate Cancer Cell Line”
• Pomona College Scholar Award (four-time recipient)-1995, 1996, 1997, 1998

Basic Research Experience

Full-Time Laboratory:

• National Cancer Institute- 6/2010-6/2011
  “Identification of molecular therapeutic targets in renal cell cancers harboring a TFE3 fusion protein”
  Principal Investigators: W. Marston Linehan, M.D. and Ramaprasad Srinivasan, M.D., Urologic Oncology Branch
  “Characterization of circulating tumor cells in urologic cancers”                                                      
  Principal Investigators:  Gennady Bratslavsky, M.D., Urologic Oncology Branch; Jane Trepel, Ph.D., Medical Oncology Branch                   
• Weill Medical College of Cornell University-7/2007-6/2008
  “Effect of an immunomodulatory drug on tumor cell growth, cytokine production and lymphocytic infiltration/activation in a renal cell carcinoma mouse model”
  Principal Investigator: Douglas S. Scherr, M.D., Department of Urology
  “Role of steroid hormone receptor coregulators in bladder cancer”                        
  Principle Investigator: Lorraine J. Gudas, Ph.D., Department of Pharmacology      
  
• University of Chicago- 6/2000-9/2000, 7/2001-6/2002
  “Mechanistic characterization of the KAI1 prostate cancer metastasis suppressor gene”                    
  Principal Investigator: Carrie Rinker-Schaeffer, Ph.D., Department of Surgery- Section of Urology.
  Support: Howard Hughes MedicalStudent Research Fellowship Award; Pritzker School of Medicine
  Summer Research Scholarship
• National Cancer Institute- 7/1998-7/1999                                                                           
  “Mutational screening of prostate cancer candidate tumor suppressor genes on chromosome 8p21”
  Principal Investigator: W. Marston Linehan, M.D., Urologic Oncology Branch
  Support: Cancer Research Training Award
• Baylor College of Medicine-6/1996-8/1996                                     
  “Effect of androgen ablation on fibroblast growth factor signaling in prostate cancer”  
  Principal Investigator: Norman M. Greenberg, Ph.D., Department of Cell Biology

Additional Laboratory

• Weill Medical College of Cornell University- 7/2006-6/2010
  “Role of stem cell proteins in human urologic malignancies” 
  Principal Investigators: Eric Kauffman, M.D., Department of Urology and Nigel Mongan, Ph.D., Department of Pharmacology
  Support: Clinical and Translational Science Center, Pilot Research Award
  “Contribution of BCG cell receptor expression to BCG clinical responsiveness” 
  Principal Investigator: Douglas Scherr, M.D., Department of Urology
  “Expression of the KAI1 metastasis suppressor gene in renal cell tumor histologic subtypes” 
  Principal Investigators: Douglas Scherr, M.D., Department of Urology, and Jiangling Tu, M.D., Department of Pathology
  “Effect of laser-fiber sweeping rotational speed and angle on efficiency of photoselective vaporization of the prostate in an ex vivo bovine model” 
  Principal Investigator:  Benjamin Choi, M.D., Department of Urology
• University of Chicago- 9/1999-3/2000                                                                     
  “Generation of head and neck cancer cell lines overexpressing the apoptotic protein, BIK”
  Principal Investigator: Charles M. Rudin, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Medicine
• Pomona College-9/1997-5/1998
  “Isolation of novel proteins interacting with the vesicle targeting protein, GDP-Dissociation Inhibitor”
  Principal Investigator: Clarissa Cheney, Ph.D., Department of Biology

Journal Reviewer

• European Urology
• Journal of Urology
• British Journal of Urology International