General Info

My philosophy of patient care revolves around putting the patient first. Patients are often scared of a potential diagnosis or are having difficulty breathing. When I meet with my patients, I do everything to ensure they receive expert evaluation and treatment. Just as importantly, I also let them know that I genuinely care for them. It's a privilege to work as part of a multi-disciplinary care team with nurses, respiratory therapists, social workers, thoracic surgeons, and medical and radiation oncologists. We work together to ensure excellent patient care. Clinical focus My areas of clinical expertise include all aspects of interventional pulmonology, including minimally invasive diagnostic procedures to evaluate suspicious lung nodules and enlarged lymph nodes in the chest as well as the evaluation and management of malignant and non-malignant central airway obstruction. In addition, I specialize in the evaluation and management of pleural diseases with procedures such as ultrasound guided thoracentesis, indwelling pleural catheters, and thoracoscopy with pleurodesis. Research focus I have published more than 260 peer-reviewed manuscripts in addition to over 35 book chapters, and have co-edited four textbooks. My research focuses on minimally invasive ways to diagnose and treat lung cancer, the physiology of the pleural space, and the treatment of patients with malignant pleural effusion. I co-founded the Interventional Pulmonary Outcomes Group (IPOG), whose mission is to provide and support multicenter prospective trials in the Interventional Pulmonary space. My goal is to advance the science of Interventional Pulmonology in order to improve the quality of life of patients with malignant pleural effusions and central airway obstruction as well as to develop new strategies to diagnosis and treat lung cancer.