Nearly half of all cancer deaths are preventable. Outsmarting Cancer reveals the hidden triggers fueling the young adult cancer epidemic, and how we can each change our lifestyles to minimize our risk.
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Selected musings

Featured in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Philly Inquirer, Business Insider, Newsweek, DailyMail, Salon, Fox News, The Washington Examiner, The New York Post, The Pittsburgh Post Gazette and The Chicago Tribune

clinical research:
​PROBING THE DEPTHS OF OUR being​

I conduct research on cancer epidemiology, disparities, and real-world survival of precision therapies
View my Google Scholar profile
View my ResearchGate profile
See select publications below:
  • Osimertinib dose-reduction and survival in 1L EGFR-mutated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (2026)
  • First-line immunotherapy with or without chemotherapy versus BRAF plus MEK inhibitors in BRAFV600E-mutated metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (FRONT-BRAF): a multicentre, retrospective cohort study (2025)
  • Osimertinib vs. Afatinib in 1L therapy of atypical EGFR-mutated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC): A multi-institution, real-world survival analysis (2025), presented at Targeted Therapies in Lung Cancer International Conference
  • Survival disparities by sex and race in advanced urothelial carcinoma (aUC) therapy: a real-world analysis (2025)
  • Observational Cohort Study of Osimertinib plus Capmatinib for Patients with EGFR-mutated NSCLC with Progression on Osimertinib and development of MET Amplification or Overexpression (2025)
  • Real-world outcomes of cabozantinib therapy in poor differentiated thyroid carcinoma (2024)
  • Meta-analysis of age, sex, and race disparities in the era of contemporary urothelial cancer treatment (2024)
  • Extended Survival in NTRK-Fusion Thyroid Cancer Patients Treated with Larotrectinib (2024)
  • Real-world outcomes of atypical EGFR-mutated metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC) treated with osimertinib (osi) vs. afatinib or erlotinib (2024)
  • Plunging into the PACIFIC: Outcomes of Patients with Unresectable KRAS-Mutated NCLC Following Definitive Chemoradiation and Durvalumab Consolidation (2024)
  • Identifying and Addressing the Challenges of the Virtual Match: A Student Perspective (2023) 
  • Epidemiology of Valvular Heart Disease (2022)
  • Glioblastoma with Deep Supratentorial Extension is Associated with a Worse Overall Survival, Journal of Clinical Neuroscience (2021)
  • Trends in Adjuvant Therapy After Surgery for Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (2021)
  • Epidemiology, Staging and Management of Multiple Myeloma (2021)
  • Epidemiology of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (2021)
  • Epidemiology of Lung Cancer (2021) 
  • Epidemiology of Melanoma (2021)
  • Epidemiology of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma progression (2021)
  • Chemical Risk Factors of Primary Liver Cancer: An Update (2020)  
  • Epidemiology of Renal Cell Carcinoma (2020)
  • Prostate Cancer Epidemiology, Staging and Management (2020)
  • Neoadjuvant therapy outcomes in locally advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma (2020)
  • Performance of neoadjuvant therapy in locally advanced adenocarcinoma of the pancreas: a single large volume center experience (2020)
  • Epidemiology of Renal Cell Carcinoma (2020)
  • Raising Wages for A Hospital’s Unsung Heroes (2020) 
  • Epidemiology of Bladder Cancer (2020)
  • Targeted Therapies and Immunotherapies in the Treatment of Esophageal Cancers (2019)
  • Immunotherapies and Targeted Therapies in the Treatment of Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (2019)
  • Epidemiology of Cholangiocarcinoma (2019)
  • Transcription-Coupled Nucleotide Excision Repair in Telomere Preservation, presentation at Cold Spring Harbor Telomere conference (2019)
  • ​Epidemiology of Small Bowel Cancer (2019)
  • ​Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer (2019)
  • Epidemiology of Gastric Cancer (2018)
  • Effects of Nucleotide Excision Repair on Telomere Preservation, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Symposium (2018), awarded "excellence in basic science"
 Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Jefferson University
Clinical Research Assistant (2019-2023)
  • Dean's, Lavine Student Research Awards
  • Allegheny County Medical Society Medical Student Scholarship
  • Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Student Honor Society, Junior Member
  • Hobart Amory Hare Internal Medicine Honor Society 
  • ​Department of Surgery McClellan Honor Society
  • Investigating glioblastoma treatment modalities and survival
    • ​Presenter at the 2021 and 2022 American Academy of Neurological Surgery National Conference
  • Investigating the role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in pancreatic and small bowel adenocarcinoma
    • ​Abstract presented as the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology National Conference
  • ​Investigating the adjuvant chemotherapy efficacy in head and neck cancer
  • ​Investigating the efficacy of bisphosphonates in prevention of multiple myeloma skeletal complications
    • ​Abstract presented at the 2019 American Society of Hematology National Conference

University of Pittsburgh
Senior Research Assistant in Cancer and Aging  (2015-2019)
  • Presenter at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory International Telomere Conference (2019)
  • Hillman Cancer Center Director's Award for Scientific Excellence in the Basic Sciences (2018)
  • ​Hillman Cancer Center Basic Sciences Seminar Speaker (2018)
  • UPCI Academy Award for Best Poster (2015)
  • Findings were featured in SciShow (see below)
Hillman Cancer Center Academy (2015)
Recognized as Best Research Project
Dr. Bruce Armitage's laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University (2014-2015)
Intern at the Allegheny General Hospital Gene Therapy Department (2013-2014)

Healthcare & Culture:
sustaining Those who sustain us

Trump cuts to cancer research will cost money and lives
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 2026
After sweeping ICE raids, can we still call ourselves a nation of immigrants
The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2025
Populist reforms can save US healthcare
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 2024
Quiet quitting and corporate culture
The Wall Street Journal, 2022
The case against lifting COVID mask mandates
The Wall Street Journal, 2022
Mask and vaccine mandates secure personal liberty
In-Training, 2021
COVID-19 reveals urgent need for FDA reform
Washington Examiner, 2020
Smoking out the hysteria around vaping
The Wall Street Journal, 2019
Poetry: Is it man or is it flesh?
In-Training, 2019
Comedian running for president in Ukraine challenges culture of corruption
National Interest, Yahoo News, 2019
Our broken immigration system prevents immigrant doctors from saving American lives
​Townhall, 2019
Obamacare cannot stand without its mandate
Washington Examiner, 2019
How Obamacare Is Making The U.S. Health-Care System Run Like Netflix
​The Federalist, 2018
There Is No Such Thing as a Free Pharma Lunch (Anymore) 
Reason Magazine, 2018
Markets Run Healthcare Better Than Government Mandates 
​Foundation for Economic Education, Personal Liberty, 2017
Students Still Live and Suffer in Sandusky's Long Shadow
Newsweek, 2017
Doctors of Policy: Discussion on ACA, AHCA, and BCRA
In-Training, 2017
Doctors of Medicine must become Doctors of Policy
In-Training, 2017

Interviews AND Books:

I spoke with FOX5 DC about the lessons learned after the shooting at the Pittsburgh Synagogue I attended. Can we learn to set aside politics and unite in the face of tragedy? Watch below:
My take on single-payer healthcare was featured in McGraw-Hill Education's new textbook Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Health and Society (2019).

Get the book here!
I spoke with the award-winning Coffee Shop Philosophy Podcast on the Soviet diaspora and its implications for politics and culture today (2019)

Listen here!
"In the jungles of Cambodia, one can find the remains of Angkor Thom, the once largest city in the world and capital of the Khmer empire. Many have never heard of the Khmer, because, over but a few generations, their awesome temples were lost to the entropy of the forest. Their symbols, such as the seven-headed snake, ominously adorn the tombs and sparse structures of present-day Cambodia. Imagine a future where the United States Bald Eagle is but a relic of a long-forgotten past, serving as a reminder of the frailty of civilization. Freedom, education and culture are man's best defense against the ceaseless march of chaos.”

Igniting Liberty
Best-Seller on Amazon
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