I research cancer because...

Because of the high potential to efficiently save lives for the long term using the skill set I've been trained with.

Briefly describe your current work.

I am working to quantify the impact of each genetic change from normal tissues that leads to cancer, and how the genetic background and carcinogenic exposures alter that impact.

What achievements are you most proud of?

Being the first to quantify the cancer effects of mutations in terms of how much each contribute to cancer.

Being the first to provide a quantitative answer to "Why me?" by developing a way to assess the degree to which different mutagenic exposures contribute to individual patient tumors.

Being a founding member of the Cancer Evolution Working Group of the AACR, which grew under my watch as co-chair to more 6,000 dedicated members, and which has advocated for and succeeded in integrating evolutionary thinking into cancer research.