Research Summary

I am a Surgical Oncologist and Endocrine Surgeon who specializes in taking care of patients with cancers of the pancreas, liver, GI tract, soft tissue sarcoma, melanoma, thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal glands; I am co-director of the neuroendocrine cancer clinic, Division Director of Surgical Oncology and Endocrine Surgery, and Professor of Surgery at the University of Iowa. My area of research expertise is in Familial Cancer Syndromes, genetic linkage, gene discovery, and gene expression studies. My postdoctoral training at Washington University under Helen Donis-Keller, Ph.D. and Samuel Wells, M.D., was directed at the identification of the gene for Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 2. As a faculty member, my focus has been the genetics of Juvenile Polyposis, which led to the discovery of the 2 predisposing genes. More recently, I have developed a large clinical practice and research interest in the genetics of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). Our current research focus is the study of gene expression profiles in pancreatic and small bowel NETs to identify new targets for imaging and treatment, and collection of families to search for predisposing genes.