Bridging the gap between the laboratory bench and the patient’s bedside, the Holman Pathway supports a select group of residents committed to a career in academic medicine and scientific discovery. This specialized training track fosters innovation by allowing residents to pursue high-impact research alongside world-class mentors during their clinical training. We are proud to feature the work of our current trainees, whose diverse projects span the fields of cancer metabolism, hematopoiesis, computational oncology, and cardio-immunology. Their dedication to uncovering the mechanisms of disease ensures that the next generation of oncologic breakthroughs is already in motion.
Kevin Boehm, MD, PhD
Kevin Boehm, MD, PhD, is a Resident Physician and Research Fellow in the Holman Pathway, specializing in multimodal machine learning. His work focuses on bridging the gap between digital pathology and genomic sequencing for cancer diagnostics and biomarker discovery. Under the mentorship of Nikolaus Schultz, PhD, Francisco Sanchez-Vega, PhD, and Sohrab Shah, PhD in Computational Oncology, Dr. Boehm is developing computational models that integrate MSK-IMPACT (clinical panel sequencing) with pathology whole-slide images. By leveraging machine learning, his research identifies tumor phenotypes and molecular features that are predictive of response to therapy. Dr. Boehm has received funding from the Fund for Innovation in Cancer Informatics and the Artificial Intelligence Technology Development Investment Fund, is a member of the MSK Entrepreneurship Initiative, and has presented his AI research at major international summits in Montreal, Berlin, and Milan.
Kate Hockemeyer, MD, PhD
Kate Hockemeyer, MD, PhD, is a Resident Physician and Research Fellow in the Holman Pathway. Her work focuses on identifying novel ways to target natural killer (NK) cells in small cell lung cancer. Under the mentorship of Charles Rudin, MD PhD, Kate is developing a lung cancer organoid screening platform to identify targets in small cell lung cancer that sensitize to NK cell killing. She is simultaneously establishing a multiplex panel to characterize clinically relevant NK receptor-ligand pairs, which will be tested in preclinical models. Kate has published in journals such as Nature Cell Biology, Nature Communications, and Nature Medicine, and is committed to becoming an independent physician scientist bringing NK cell therapies from bench to bedside.
Alex Terry, MD, PhD
Alex Terry, MD, PhD, is a Resident Physician and Research Fellow in the Holman Pathway. He is focused on understanding how cellular metabolism may be exploited to improve cancer treatment. Under the mentorship of Dr. Paul Romesser, a GI radiation oncologist at MSK, and Dr. Kıvanç Birsoy, an expert in cancer metabolism and functional genomics at The Rockefeller University, he is combining state-of-the-art CRISPR/Cas9 screening with in vivo tumor models to uncover novel metabolic pathways that may be targeted therapeutically. Beyond metabolism, under the mentorship of Dr. Lior Braunstein and in collaboration with co-resident Dr. Shoshana Rosensweig, Dr. Terry helped develop PASS-RT, a Phase 2 clinical trial asking whether radiotherapy may be safely omitted in patients with node-positive breast cancer who achieve a pathologic complete response in the breast and lymph nodes. Dr. Terry is committed to a career as a physician-scientist in which mechanistic discovery and trial design inform one another, using each to sharpen the questions asked by the other.
Ross Weber, MD, PhD
Ross Weber, MD, PhD, is a Resident Physician and Research Fellow in the Holman Pathway, a specialized track dedicated to training the next generation of physician-scientists in radiation oncology. Dr. Weber’s work is centered at the intersection of immunology and cancer metabolism, where he seeks to understand the complex biochemical signals that allow tumors to evade the immune system. Under the mentorship of Sohail Tavazoie MD, PhD. Dr. Weber is currently investigating how Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells (MDSCs) reprogram the metabolic environment within tumors. By utilizing advanced CRISPR screening and genetic validation techniques, his research aims to identify novel therapeutic targets that can restore T-cell function and improve outcomes for patients with treatment-resistant cancers. Dr. Weber is committed to bridging the gap between laboratory discovery and clinical application, leveraging his background in both medicine and research to advance the field of oncology.