Biography

I am currently a Bariatrics/MIS fellow at Kaiser South Sacramento. I completed my General Surgery training at Stanford Hospital. I attended medical school at the University of Central Florida and college at Stanford University. Prior to fellowship, my research background was primarily in basic and translational sciences. As a surgery resident at Stanford, I received a T32 for work on neoadjuvant immunotherapy in solid tumors using local administration of novel immune modulators directly into the primary tumor. I also worked with medical oncologists at Stanford on a clinical trial studying the abscopal effects of local application of immune modulators in lymphoma patients. Working alongside basic scientists who developed the targeted therapies and the clinicians caring for the patients enrolled in the trial allowed me to appreciate the truly unique role physician-scientists play in bridging the gap between bench and bedside. Currently my research projects in fellowship are purely clinical. I am interested in the long-term efficacy of metabolic surgery in younger patients suffering from morbid obesity and as 80% of our patient population is female and many struggle with infertility, the impact of earlier metabolic surgery on fertility. I am also interested in expanding access to metabolic surgery in traditionally underrepresented patient populations. On a personal note, I have two young children and spend my free time going on sunset strolls to the neighborhood playground.