Overview
My clinical interests include autoimmune skin disease and general dermatology. In particular, I am interested in seeing patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus, vasculitis, and dermatomyositis. I enjoy caring for patients with autoimmune skin disease because at Duke we have the experience and resources to treat many of these patients who have not had adequate therapy and make them better. I also enjoy seeing general dermatology patients and screening for skin cancer since I also have a background in oncology research.
My research path has included both basic science and clinical research. Currently, my research goal is to study cutaneous lupus erythematosus and cutaneous vasculitis to improve our care of these patients. I work alongside Dr. Adela Rambi Cardones who sees many of our patients with connective tissue disease of the skin.
My research experience started in the basic science field back in high school when I studied hormonal receptors in breast cancer with Dr. V. Craig Jordan. I continued to study breast cancer throughout college at Duke with Dr. Donald McDonnell. When I went to medical school at Duke, my basic science oncology experience in breast cancer prompted me to join a melanoma research lab with Dr. Chuan-Yuan Li. I dedicated a year to basic science research in melanoma with the help of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Medical Research Fellowship and this resulted in a first author publication in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. This experience taught me to ask mechanistic questions about clinical problems. As a resident at Duke Dermatology, my focus was primarily clinical in order to learn to care for patients. Given my overlapping interests with oncology, I fell into the autoimmune skin disease realm while I worked on a project regarding the relationship of novel immunotherapies in malignancy and cutaneous autoimmune disease with Dr. Adela Rambi Cardones. This work is ongoing and has resulted in a publication in the British Journal of Dermatology. I also completed an elective at the National Institute of Health with Dr. Edward Cowen. During this rotation, I rounded with the NIH Dermatology consult service to evaluate patients with rare diagnoses and presented at the NIH grand rounds.
As a faculty member, my primary goal is to deliver superior patient care, collaborate with other specialties, and to educate residents and students. I have worked on a project with a rheumatology fellow in the past and this resulted in a case report in Arthritis Care and Research. Most importantly, I came to Duke to teach, and I am most excited about patient cases that are medically complex and offer opportunities for teaching residents and students. As a former chief resident at Duke Dermatology, I have had the responsibility and privilege to instruct other residents. I feel very satisfied to witness the successful results of training other residents and hope to work with medical students in the future as well. As a former Duke medical student who applied to dermatology, I understand the pressures and need for solid mentorship and would be open to speaking with medical students or residents interested in dermatology.