My primary area of research focus has been pancreatic and hepatobiliary cancers. I have developed early- to late-phase clinical trials and evaluated biomarkers that could predict response to therapy in gastrointestinal malignancies, especially pancreatic and hepatobiliary cancers. The most recent studies assessed the antitumor activity of inhibitors of exportin1 in combination with gemcitabine in pancreatic tumor xenograft models. The results led to the development of a clinical trial evaluating the role of exportin1 inhibitors in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. This work demonstrates my ability to develop markers that potentially could be utilized in developing personalized therapies in the field of oncology. In my prior post at the Mayo Clinic, I led Core C for Pancreatic Cancer SPORE. I developed several phase I-III clinical trials and have been the principal investigator of several clinical trials involving novel agents targeting different pathways including PI3K/akt, mtor, hedgehog, exportin1, and p53. I have initiated several clinical trials evaluating single agents and a combination of chemotherapy with novel agents including androgen receptor antagonist, thymidylate synthase, and pi3k inhibitor. These trials have been funded by grant programs through pharmaceutical companies, and institutional and federal programs. I have consistently accrued a high number of clinical trials at the H Lee Moffitt Cancer Center. I have been part of ALLIANCE cooperative group and am on the GI subcommittee of the ACCRUE trial group. Additionally, I serve on several committees at NRG.