Primary Appointment

My career began as a hospitalist at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in the Leukemia Department, where my primary role was to run an in-patient service in Leukemia. I was trained to supervise chemotherapy and to treat the adverse effects of these treatments which is how I became interested in the area of supportive care and Endocrinology. Ultimately, I completed fellowship training at Baylor College of Medicine in Endocrinology. Just a decade ago, the possibilities for treatment for patients with metastatic thyroid cancer who had failed radioactive iodine and thyroid hormone suppression were very limited. I quickly became interested in this area especially because there were no treatments known to benefit these patients.My background with treating very complex leukemia patients who had adverse events due to chemotherapy and targeted therapy and my experience with clinical trials led me to my current area of research interest in treatment of widely metastatic thyroid cancer. I am also interested in management of side effects from these targeted therapies, as these drugs have become chronic therapies for our thyroid cancer patients. Proficiency in the management of these side effects is essential in order to improve the patients' quality of life and to maintain patient compliance with the treatment. As the Facutly Director of Clinical Research, I supervise and train the research staff to conduct clinical trials in accordance to policy and in a safe and effective manner.

My research interests include the treatment of locally advanced and widely metastatic thyroid cancer with systemic therapies, especially the newer tyrosine kinase inhibitors, such as XL184 (cabozantinib), E7080 (lenvatinib), and the BRAF inhibitor, vemurafenib. I am also interested in the management of side effects from these drugs in order to maintain a good quality of life for our patients during treatment.

My clinical interests include the treatment of all stages and types of thyroid cancer, including diagnosis of thyroid cancer, adjuvant treatment (ie, radioactive iodine after primary surgery, XRT), and treatment of advanced thyroid cancer with local therapies, radioactive iodine and the newer therapies with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (ie, vandetanib, sorafenib, sunitinib, pazopanib). I also provide patients with the option to have their tumor tested for appropriate genetic mutations which may help guide treatment.

For general clinic information and referrals, please visit the Department of Endocrine Neoplasia and Hormonal Disorder's contact information webpage at:

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Last updated: 3/6/2013