Skip to main content

My research interest is focused on immune responses to malignant and infectious pleural diseases with the goal of developing prognostic biomarkers and therapeutics to improve patient outcomes. Pleural disease continues to increase in incidence and prevalence and represents a significant source of patient morbidity and mortality. As Director of Interventional Pulmonology, Carolina Center for Pleural Diseases and UNC Pleural Fluid Registry at UNC, I am dedicated to the development of immunologically directed therapeutics aimed at leveraging the ease with which we can both sample and treat the tumor microenvironment via the pleural space. My research is geared toward better understanding the tumor-immune microenvironment and how it changes over time in response to tumor progression and/or systemic/local therapy. Our focus is identification of previously undiscovered immune population subsets intended to serve as biomarkers for disease progression in addition to the development of neo-antigen based intrapleural therapies. In addition, I also lead and collaborate in preclinical, clinical, and translational work focused on the early detection and diagnosis of lung cancer. We have performed several studies in robotic and navigation bronchoscopy aimed at better understanding the factors associated with success and failure. Finally, my team is actively pursuing blood-based biomarker research aimed a risk stratification of patients with suspected and/or known early-stage lung cancer.


UNC AFFILIATIONS:

(DOM) Pulmonary Diseases & Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine (DOM), Lineberger Cancer Center, Marsico Lung Institute

CLINICAL/RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Cancer Biology, Drug Delivery, Immunology, Pulmonary, Translational Medicine