As a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at USUHS, the major aim of my laboratory has been to improve the diagnostic and  surveillance capability of the medical team involved with patients identified as either being at risk of developing  thyroid cancer, having thyroid cancer or at risk of progressive disease. 

My earliest bench top work involved the investigation of the methylation status of genes involved in  mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition in thyroid cancer. Our lab identified an increased propensity towards  methylation, and loss of expression, of a cadherin gene in primary papillary thyroid cancers which had  lymphocytic infiltration, extrathyroidal invasion and known metastases.

 Our lab discovered a correlation between the presence of Herpes Simplex Virus 2 (HSV2) and both primary  papillary thyroid cancer and the presence of lymph node metastases. Our work recapitulated previous  descriptions of the ability of HSV infection to induce fusion of human cells. This prompted a hypothesis which  led to the discovery of increased gap junctional interactions in matrix-deprived thyroid cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo.

As the incidence and prevalence of thyroid cancer increased over time, treatment and surveillance became more  and more burdensome to the medical system. One of the greatest challenges we are faced with relates to the  treatment of disseminated or recurrent disease, as these tumors tend to be more resistant to conventional  therapy (radioactive iodine) and long-term survival is markedly diminished. New therapies have been and continue to be developed, but their staggering cost has failed to significantly alter the course of disease  progression for a majority of patients. Our lab undertook investigations into the possibility of repositioning  medications in common use to the treatment of thyroid cancer. We completed pre-clinical in vitro work  and have shown a possible benefit of several well-tolerated drugs in the treatment of thyroid cancer in cell lines.

We also established a set of techniques for analysis of thyroid oncogene mutations in blood-based liquid biopsy  samples. Liquid biopsies provide an opportunity to identify molecular signature that can be used as biomarkers  to detect cancer and predict disease progression. We are planning to determine the utility of liquid biopsy for  analysis of sporadic and radio-induced thyroid cancers.

Over the past 12 years, I have been increasingly engaged in the development and delivery of undergraduate medical education curricula, principally as a Module Director (since JUL 2019) but also with increased exposure to students in small groups, as a lecturer and as a student coach.  I have also been invited as a recurring clinical lecturer for the USUHS Graduate School of Nursing doctorate students, presenting lectures on thyroid disease and the management of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus.

Since graduation from Fellowship training in 2007, I have also been very much involved as a faculty member of the National Capitol Region Pediatric Endocrinology Fellowship Program.