Postdoctoral Resident Research Fellow
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
My path to surgery has been unconventional, but my commitment to academic inquiry has been consistent. Prior to medical school, I built a career as a classically trained oil painter and tenure-track professor. During my transition into medicine, I worked as a research technician in a molecular biology laboratory at Northwestern University studying chromatin localization. As a medical student at Thomas Jefferson University, I contributed to multiple peer-reviewed publications, including a first-author systematic review on left ventricular outflow tract stenting. Throughout residency, I have continued to publish, including a first-author piece in NEJM Evidence.
I am currently a general surgery resident at the University of Illinois Chicago, completing a two-year dedicated research block in the Department of Vascular Surgery at the University of Chicago. Under the mentorship of Dr. Sara Gaines, my research investigates how CKD-induced gut-derived uremic toxins, particularly indoxyl sulfate, contribute to endothelial dysfunction and arteriovenous fistula failure. I study this using a 5/6 nephrectomy mouse model with surgically created infrarenal AVF, endothelial permeability assays, and metabolomic and metagenomic profiling. Together, these experiences have strengthened my commitment to an academic career in vascular surgery and to developing as a surgeon-scientist.
A Modular Ex Vivo Human Vessel Perfusion Platform for Studying Vascular Remodeling
Saturday, June 13, 2026
10:55 AM - 11:00 AM ET