Experience

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

• India
• Hospitals and Health Care
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Staff Scientist

  • Jul 2020 - Present

  Imaging/Data Scientist in the Molecular Imaging Branch at NCI/NIH - focus in quantitative imaging biomarkers, artificial intelligence applications, and data-driven modeling of prostate cancer. Senior staff within Artificial Intelligence Resource (AIR) - collaborative group focusing on AI-based applications and solutions for NCI researchers. Imaging/Data Scientist in the Molecular Imaging Branch at NCI/NIH - focus in quantitative imaging biomarkers, artificial intelligence applications, and data-driven modeling of prostate cancer. Senior staff within Artificial Intelligence Resource (AIR) - collaborative group focusing on AI-based applications and solutions for NCI researchers.



Leidos

• United States
• IT Services and IT Consulting
• 700 & Above Employee

• Postdoctoral Research Scientist

  • Jan 2017 - Jul 2020

  Clinical Monitoring Research Program (CMRP) Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. Support to Molecular Imaging Program, National Cancer Institute Clinical Monitoring Research Program (CMRP) Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. Support to Molecular Imaging Program, National Cancer Institute



University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Research Assistant

  • Aug 2011 - Dec 2016

  Advisor: Robert Jeraj, PhD (Medical Physics) Thesis: Investigation of quantitative imaging biomarkers of disease heterogeneity and their association with clincopathological characteristics and treatment outcomes. Thesis work includes assessment of NaF PET/CT imaging biomarker in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and FDG PET/CT biomarkers in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This work required multidisciplinary considerations and understanding of molecular imaging targets, clinical assessment and outcomes, and statistical modeling approaches for combining quantitative imaging information with clinical and pathological features for prediction of disease-specific outcomes after treatment. We completed a retrospective evaluation of robust quantitative PET metrics in a population of early stage lung cancer patients, correlating pre-surgical 18F-FDG PET/CT uptake patterns with outcome intervals in early stage NSCLC. We have reported that biologically-mediated differences in FDG patterns influences population-level correlation to outcome, with enhanced disease characterization and predictive ability when accounting for differences in histology. Currently there is no established tool to reliably and quantitatively measure functional changes in bone metastases in response to therapy, particularly in bone where patients often have high disease burden, i.e. many tumors. This leads to under-sampling of disease sites in clinical assessment. My work combined the quantitative assessment of total disease burden with inter-lesion dynamics to evaluate NaF PET/CT response during systemic treatment of mCRPC. Additionally, we have developed and tested a methodology for biological sampling of disease in patients with multiple tumors to help inform and target the development of disease resistance mechanisms as identified on imaging. True clinical validation is currently being investigated in as part of clinical trial (NCT02677376).



Medical Imaging Research Center

• Research Assistant

  • Dec 2009 - May 2011

  http://www.iit.edu/~mri/Home.html S. Harmon, D.A. Fleischman, R.J. Dawe, L.L. Barnes, M.C. Morris, D.A. Bennett, K. Arfanakis. Increased levels of systemic inflammation in the elderly are associated with reduced microstructural integrity of brain tissue. Proc. Int. Soc. for Magn. Reson. in Med. (ISMRM) 2011, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. http://www.iit.edu/~mri/Home.html S. Harmon, D.A. Fleischman, R.J. Dawe, L.L. Barnes, M.C. Morris, D.A. Bennett, K. Arfanakis. Increased levels of systemic inflammation in the elderly are associated with reduced microstructural integrity of brain tissue. Proc. Int. Soc. for Magn. Reson. in Med. (ISMRM) 2011, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.