Meet the residents: Dr. Zachary Oaks

MD, PhD, SUNY Upstate

What brought you to radiation oncology?

I was first exposed to radiation oncology when I worked at a biotech company in Boston that was developing new compounds to radiosensitize pancreatic cancer. I then went on to do my PhD studying hepatocellular carcinoma in a mouse knockout model that was driven by oxidative stress. When I returned to my clinical rotations I knew I wanted to pursue a career in oncology. After doing rotations in medical oncology, surgical oncology, and radiation oncology I chose radiation because I enjoyed the outpatient clinical setting and the diverse research opportunities available to residents.

What do you like about UNC RadOnc?

We have friendly faculty that regularly teach residents and get us involved in a number of research projects. Clinically we see a wide variety of cases and we get plenty of opportunities to participate in procedures including brachytherapy, IORT, and nasopharyngolaryngoscopies.