I have been involved with clinical care at Memorial Sloan-Kettering for more than a decade and have learned during this time that even though our current treatment approaches are effective, they do not work for every patient. My desire to improve patient cure rates and quality of life has led me to study cancer genetics to gain a better understanding of head and neck cancers. I obtained a PhD to supplement my clinical knowledge, and I now am actively involved in clinical and laboratory research aimed at improving the treatment of patients with cancer. Our research has helped to establish treatment approaches that serve as cornerstones for modern management of head and neck cancers.
Given the effectiveness of our treatment approaches and research efforts, I was appointed Director of the Laboratory of Epithelial Cancer Biology, and I have been asked to share my expertise at numerous national and international meetings. I have authored more than 100 articles and 20 book chapters related to head and neck cancers. In addition, the American Joint Committee on Cancer has asked me to help develop a new staging system for head and neck cancers, which will serve as the basis for state-of-the-art therapeutic decision making.
My expertise extends to all head and neck cancers, with a particular focus on cancers of the mouth (tongue, floor of mouth, and buccal mucosa), skull base, and salivary and thyroid glands, as well as melanomas and skin cancers of the head and neck region. Once my team takes on the responsibility of your treatment, we will aggressively pursue all avenues to achieve a cure.
