Harvard Catalyst Profiles

Hope College, Holland MI	BS	05/2002	Biology and Chemistry
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI	MD	05/2006	Medical School
Brigham and Women's / Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA		6/2013	General Surgery
Brigham and Women's / Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA		7/2014	Endocrine Surgery

My scientific interest lies in interaction between metabolism and aggressive malignancies like anaplastic thyroid cancer and adrenocortical carcinoma. We are currently testing the ways in which diet influences tumor growth and also how it modifies the response to treatment.


My clinical practice is a high-volume Endocrine Surgery practice where I treat patients with diseases of the thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal glands.

Thyroid: I perform more than 100 thyroidectomies per year for both benign and malignant indications. I have a particular interest in treating the most advance thyroid malignancies (Anaplastic, poorly differentiated, medullary).

Parathyroid: Primary hyperparathyroidism is an under-diagnosed condition that can affect bone mineral density, neurocognitive function, and kidney stone formation. Most PHPT is caused by a single parathyroid adenoma in the neck and can be readily cured with surgery.

Adrenal: Diseases of the adrenal glands range from benign functional disorders (pheochromocytoma, aldosteronoma, adrenal Cushing syndrome from an adenoma) to advanced malignancies (Adrenocortical carcinoma and malignant tumors from other sites that metastasize to the adrenal gland). Most adrenalectomies are performed with minimally invasive techniques.