McMaster University
Hamilton, Canada
I am a staff neurosurgeon and clinical scholar holding neurosurgical specialist certification in the United Kingdom and Canada with qualifications in health data sciences. My clinical and research interest lie in neuro-oncology. My research is dedicated to data analytics and computational biology to explore complex clinical phenotypes and tumor microenvironment to better understand oncogenesis and uncover treatment vulnerabilities.
My first body of research in my PhD focused on mechanisms of cytotoxic brain edema. The research has demonstrated aquaporin 4 dependent astrocyte swelling as the underlying mechanisms of altered non-synaptic transmission and capillary compromise in cytotoxic brain edema. These results promote the glial water channel aquaporin 4 as a treatment target in cytotoxic brain edema.
In my specialist training in neuro-oncology my specific research areas included deciphering biological heterogeneity of brain tumors. We have identified homogenous subgroups of brain tumors that share biological features such as recurrence and treatment response. These findings promoted the concept of defining molecular subgroups in tumor classification.
Another areas of my research include the broader understanding of complex clinical phenotypes in illness including critical illness. This research is dedicated to identifying homogenous patient subgroups based on demographics, clinical and molecular features to improve our risk stratification and treatment planning. This research has defined combinations of chronic diseases and configurations of molecular responses predicts poor outcome in critical illness. Results promote a high dimensional model of patient resilience to improve risk stratification in critical illness.
My broader vision is for these areas of research to unite in a concept of complex oncological endotypes that allow better risk assessment, treatment planning and prediciton for therapy response.