What is your professional background?
Originally, I am a biomedical and electrical/computer engineer from Duke. I pursued my PhD in intelligent systems and medical informatics at the University of Pittsburgh and my MD from Case Western Reserve University. My westward journey took a sudden turn south to Emory for my residency in internal medicine. The ICUs have always captured my interest, so since then, I’ve started as a first year pulmonary/critical care fellow here at Emory.
In what division do you work, and who is your mentor?
I’m proud to be in the division of pulmonary/critical care medicine, and my mentoring panel, led by Dr. Timothy Buchman, also includes Drs. James Blum and Gari Clifford.
Briefly describe your research. Why is it important?
The combination of the immense body of medical knowledge (doubling every five years) with the torrent of clinical data flooding the hospital every second forces clinicians to drink from a fire hose to care for patients. My research in ICU informatics uses machine learning to leverage knowledge gleaned from the thousands of other patients to create algorithms that can predict clinical events, like sepsis, before they happen. With sufficient forewarning, we may be able to mitigate disease progression and, hopefully, prevent the need for an ICU. Previously, my dissertation work developed a new algorithm for discovering disease associations from whole exome sequencing. I hope to combine -omics with clinical decision support to further refine medical practice.
What do you like most about Emory?
Emory’s collaborative and supportive culture truly makes patient care, and collaborations a pleasure.
What is your favorite movie or TV show?
Sherlock is simply brilliant!
What do you like to do in your spare time?
When I get the chance, I love to go out ballroom dancing and to find collaborators for medical innovation.
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