General Info

My dad was a primary care physician in small-town Ohio, which gave me early exposure to medicine. I liked computer programming in the 1970s - the very early PC years - but found it too tedious to pursue as a career. I was only 15 when I realized medicine was my calling. \n I went through an accelerated Bachelor of Science/MD program at Kent State University and decided on surgery as a specialty because I've loved fixing things since I was young. I further chose urology since it offers a great mix of large, complex surgeries and simpler procedures, such as cystoscopies and vasectomies. \n I did my residency at what is now MedSTAR Georgetown-Washington Hospital Center. I also did a research year in kidney and pancreas transplants followed by a yearlong fellowship at The National Cancer Institute, where I provided immunotherapy to advanced renal carcinoma and melanoma patients. \n After that rewarding experience at the National Institutes of Health, I finished my four-year urology training and entered private practice in the Washington, D.C. area, where I remained for 25 years and performed countless minimally invasive procedures for prostate diseases. \n I served as chief of urology at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital in Virginia and chief of surgery at Prince William Hospital, also in Virginia, and was among Washingtonian Magazine's Top Doctors every year since 2004. \n Over the years, I have published a number of scholarly articles. I'm especially proud that my son - who's now an MD but was in college at the time - and I published a comparison study of cryotherapy versus radiation therapy for prostate cancer. \n With my dad and a sister in Raleigh, moving to North Carolina appealed to me. My job in Wilmington puts me much closer to them. I have two adult sons from my first marriage and am engaged to a Novant Health nurse practitioner. We live - somehow peacefully - with two kids, one grandmother, two cats, fish, a turtle and a gecko. \n I'm an avid golfer and also love nature, gardening and travel. Some friends and I have taken an international golf trip every year since 2015.