August 12 2024
NRG Oncology recently selected 10 individuals to be NRG Early Career & New Investigator (ECNI) Fellows on behalf of the organization. Each individual comes with a different area of concentration for their career focus. NRG ECNI Fellows will have the opportunity to be engaged via close mentorship of their disease site or NRG’s National Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) liaison and the relevant Committee Chairs for the one-year term.
Meet the NRG Oncology ECNI Fellows!
Nikhil Rammohan, MD
Focus: Brain Cancer
Dr. Rammohan is an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis specializing in Central Nervous System and Head and Neck oncology. His research goal is to utilize artificial intelligence and radiomics to guide effective radiation therapy. Through his academic career, Dr. Rammohan has developed a longitudinal interest in MRI-based biomarkers and ultimately desires to become a clinical trialist to translate such MRI biomarkers into prospective cooperative group studies.
Ritesh Parajuli, MD
Focus: Breast Cancer
Dr. Parajuli is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of California, Irvine. His translational research focuses on biomarkers that have prognostic and predictive significance in breast cancer. Dr. Parajuli serves as the Co-Leader of the Breast Disease Oriented Team at the NCI Designated Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.He is a member of the Breast Committee at SWOG and the NRG. He aims to further his academic career as a clinical and translational researcher conducting biomarker driven Investigator initiated clinical trials in breast cancer.
Sarah Ackroyd, MD
Focus: Cancer Prevention & Control
Dr. Ackroyd is a Gynecologic Oncologist and Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago. She has a strong health services research background with research interests and publications spanning from large database research to decision analysis modeling. She hopes to further develop her role as a collaborator and leader in the clinical trials community as well as become more involved in clinical trials as a principal investigator and subject matter leader in the area of patient reported outcomes.
Joan Tymon-Rosario, MD
Focus: Developmental Therapeutics – Phase I, Gynecologic Cancer
Dr. Tymon-Rosario is a Gynecologic Oncologist at Northwell Health. She was actively involved in several clinical research projects that focused on novel targeted therapeutic treatments for uterine, cervical, and ovarian cancer with the hope of providing a personalized approach to gynecologic cancer care as well as a scholar in the inaugural SGO BRIDGES Research Initiative Program. Her career goal is to continue to enhance her skills as a research clinician/scientist and to better learn how to translate her bench research into the bedside in the clinical setting.
Yufen Lin, PhD, RN
Focus: Gastrointestinal (Colorectal) Cancer
Dr. Lin is an assistant professor at the Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and a member of the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program at Winship Cancer Institute. Her research interests focus on cancer symptom science and management, psychosocial care, innovative dyadic interventions, health disparities, and health equities. Since starting her faculty career, Dr. Lin’s research focus has been aimed at developing and testing personalized interventions that leverage artificial intelligence and digital technologies to improve health outcomes and advance health equity for patients with colorectal cancer and their caregivers.
Soumon Rudra, MD
Focus: Gastrointestinal (Non-Colorectal) Cancer
Dr. Rudra is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine. His research interests include improving radiation therapy treatment planning and delivery for patients with gastrointestinal cancers through the use of novel techniques and advancing those novel techniques to patients through clinical trials. His career goal is to advance treatment options for patients with diagnosis of gastrointestinal cancers through clinical trial development and participation.
James Tsui, BEng, MSc, MDCM, PhD, FRCPC
Focus: Genitourinary Cancer
Dr. Tsui is an Assistant Professor in Oncology at McGill University and Radiation Oncologist at the Cedars Cancer Centre, McGill University Health Centre. His research interests lie at the intersection of artificial intelligence and oncology, more specifically in genitourinary malignancy as well as sarcoma. He has engaged in projects aimed at leveraging AI to enhance various aspects of radiation oncology as well as to address critical challenges in oncology. He aspires to conduct prospective clinical trials that evaluate artificial intelligence tools in real-world settings, thereby translating research findings into clinical practice.
Beryl Lauren Manning-Geist, MD
Focus: Gynecologic: Rare Tumor
Dr. Manning-Geist is a faculty member in the division of Gynecologic Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine. Her research interests and clinical investigation focuses on the molecular underpinnings of low grade serous ovarian carcinoma (LGSOC) and targeted therapies. Dr. Manning-Geist's research portfolio and awards include >50 peer-reviewed publications, the Foundation for Women's Cancer Young Investigator Award, the ASCO merit award, the Michael Burt Memorial Award for Clinical Excellence, and she was a named scholar in the inaugural SGO BRIDGES Research Initiative Program.
Diego J. Avilés, MD
Focus: Gynecologic: Cervical Cancer
Dr. Avilés is an AssistantProfessor in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at University of TexasHealth, Houston McGovern Medical School. His professional research includesbasic science research examining viral pathogenesis of HPV-induced cervical cancerand investigating the use of novel therapeutic agents for the treatment ofovarian cancer. His long-term career goal is to become a successfulphysician-scientist leading the field of cervical cancer research to establishnew regimens and optimize outcomes for patients with advanced / recurrentcervical cancer.
Michelle Chen, MD
Focus: Head and Neck Cancer
Dr. Chen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at Stanford University. She was a co-principal investigator of a phase II trial of de-intensified post-operative chemoradiation following robotic surgery for human papillomavirus positive oropharyngeal cancer. Additionally, she was the site principal investigator for Sanford University on PATHOS, a phase II/III trial of risk-stratified, reduced intensity adjuvant treatment in patients undergoing transoral surgery for human papillomavirus positive oropharyngeal cancer. Her career goal is to become an expert in de-intensification and precision-medicine focused clinical trials with the goal of minimizing morbidity of cancer treatment for patients and maximizing quality of life outcomes.