As the Chair of the Department of Medicine, I am invested in creating a basic, translational, and clinical program that supports each of our cancer programs.

As a genitourinary oncologist, I focus on renal cell carcinoma. This cancer affects over 70,000 new patients annually in the US. We are interested in understanding all factors intrinsic and extrinsic to the cancer cell that influence tumor growth. Therefore, our research takes a broad approach using genetic, molecular, and cell biology techniques to study tumor-initiating events and events that promote the development of invasive or metastatic features using in vitro, animal, and human systems. This translational research, all geared toward enhancing our understanding of the genetics and molecular biology of hypoxia-driven cancers, is folded into a clinical research program focused on hereditary kidney cancer syndromes at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center.