I spend much of my free time writing and recording original rock/blues songs with my band, The JukeDogs, but helping patients is what interests me the most. The focus of my career has changed some in the 20 years or so since getting my undergraduate and medical degrees from Columbia University. However, I’ve always been interested in trying to solve complex medical and scientific problems.

My grandfather was a cardiologist in Boston for many years, so I was exposed to science and medicine growing up and was always interested in learning more. I was a biology major in college and was hooked on molecular genetics, immunology, and human physiology. I was interested in oncology, but didn’t really decide that I wanted to have a career in cancer research and care until I finished my medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. With the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute being close by, it was hard not to be pulled in by the excitement of the clinical and laboratory research in oncology going on there, and so I decided to do a fellowship in medical oncology at Dana-Farber.

During my oncology fellowship, I began doing basic science research in the laboratory focusing on cytokine and lymphocyte biology. For six years, I conducted research examining how interleukin-12 (IL-12) and IL-2, two cytokines important in the stimulation of anticancer immunity, activate human lymphocytes. By the mid 1990s, I was starting to use IL-12 and IL-2 to help patients with advanced melanoma and kidney cancer.

I wanted to better connect my clinical work with my laboratory research, so in 1998 I began working more intensively with kidney cancer and melanoma patients at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, where I became more involved in the development of clinical trials while also continuing to perform laboratory research.

In 2002, I came to Duke, where I now have my own research lab and my own clinical research program in melanoma and kidney cancer (the Biologic Therapy Program). Here, I have developed new clinical trials for the treatment of melanoma and kidney cancer, and have been studying the biology of melanoma cells in the laboratory in order to find new avenues for treating this aggressive cancer.

Each week brings me many challenges, but there are also exciting opportunities. Two days a week, I see 20 or so melanoma and kidney cancer patients a day with my physician assistant Elizabeth Miller and research nurse Chris Marino. These appointments are consultations with new patients as well as follow-ups with established patients who are often on clinical trials. Our clinical research program in melanoma and kidney cancer is made possible through the devotion and hard work of our administrative assistant, Sanya Pettiford.

At any given time, about three or four of our patients are in the hospital for a week at a time receiving high-dose IL-2, the only therapy thus far with curative potential for patients with advanced melanoma or kidney cancer. Duke is one of only about 30 places in the country to offer this treatment for melanoma and renal cell cancer patients, and can do so because of the exceptional quality and skills of the nurses and physician assistants.

When I’m not seeing patients, I am collecting and analyzing data from our clinical trials with the help of my research nurse and data manager, Tina Richmond. I also spend time developing clinical trials to test new treatments, as well as planning experiments and interpreting the results with my senior lab analyst, Catherine Sciambi. In addition, I supervise and teach oncology fellows one day a week at the Durham VA Medical Center.

By far, the best part of my job is my work with patients. I—along with the rest of my staff—understand how important it is to take time to talk with our patients about complicated procedures and treatment plans. The best part of my work is developing new treatments that can help patients live productive, fulfilling lives. It’s a great feeling to have options to offer patients and to give them hope.

I have always been interested in the art of medicine and helping people feel better. That’s why I decided to become a physician associate. After getting my bachelor degrees in psychology and biology at Meredith College in Raleigh, I attended Methodist College in Fayetteville, North Carolina, to get my master’s degree in Health Science. I did additional training in general oncology at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, graduating in December 2005.

I accepted a job as a physician associate (PA) working with Dr. Gollob in the Biologic Therapy Program at Duke in February 2006, treating patients with melanoma and renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer). While a lot of Dr. Gollob’s time is spent writing and conducting research, my time is mostly spent with our patients.

We see patients together in clinic held Monday afternoons and all day Wednesdays. On non-clinic days, I spend most of my time talking with patients over the phone and completing various administrative tasks. I absolutely love my job and want to continue working in oncology, possibly pediatric oncology sometime down the road.

As much as I enjoy being a PA, I love going home to all my animals. I’m a volunteer with a local animal rescue group, being a foster parent for cats/kittens until permanent homes are found. I’ve had as many as 10 kittens to care for at a time. In addition, I play rec-league soccer a few nights a week and teach ice skating lessons to young skaters on Saturday mornings. I have a busy life both at work and at home, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.