Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Clinically, I continue to practice full time academic orthopaedic oncology at one of the busiest sarcoma multidisciplinary centers in the USA. The education of residents (PG2, PG4) and an ACGME accredited tumor fellow on our service of four orthopaedic oncologists is a mainstay mission of our practice. My research interests focus on the surgical and basic science aspects of sarcoma growth and limb preservation. With the collaboration, laboratory investigations have recently concentrated on mechanisms of sarcoma cell proliferation in the extracellular matrix and surrounding microenvironment, as well as the critical role of plasmin fibrinolysis balance in osteosarcoma growth. Interactions between oncogenesis, the inflammatory and coagulation systems have elucidated key relationships involving plasminogen, fibrin, DNA, inflammasomes, and osteosarcoma. In addition to prompting this proposal, this prior work has prompted many new questions which offer potential targeted approaches to novel treatments. Translational projects we are now undertaking include Hypo-fractionated neoadjuvant radiation for soft tissue sarcoma, Machine learning radiomics for myxoid neoplasms, & the validity of big data in accurate reporting of clinical and academic outcomes.
