What drove you to become a doctor specializing in OB/GYN?

I pursued becoming a physician because I wanted the work that I do both academically and clinically to benefit others. OB/GYN and women’s health broadly offers the opportunity to do tremendous good for mothers and their newborns and is one of the few fields in which the physician has the ability to completely resolve certain conditions, either by medical management or ultimately with surgery. By offering high quality medical care, driven by academic insight at a well-developed level, delivered in a compassionate and dedicated manner, you can significantly impact the lives of these women in children for the better.

As a medical doctor, what motivated you to also pursue an MBA, Ph.D. in Biomedical Informatics, and a Doctor of Divinity degree, and how did you find time?

One of the key things I learned from my mentor, Antonina Mitrofanova, associate professor in health informatics and associate dean of research, was the “the importance of understanding all aspects of whatever we choose to work with.”

As a physician, we regularly interface with business aspects and biomedical study methods/research methods, all of which I wanted to understand in depth from those who were experts in their respective fields. This led me to pursue an executive MBA in healthcare management and the Ph.D in Biomedical Informatics. The fields are related but all are essential parts to the greater function of healthcare delivery.

How did I find the time? That is a great question. Having online learning platforms and computationally based research methods certainly helped. Times where I needed to be present in-person, I did my best to make arrangements. Suffice to say, it is a function of both willpower and dedication on my part, but that is not to overlook the accommodations made by people like Dr. Mitrofanova to work with me to due to my hectic schedule, which I am beyond grateful for.

As I alluded to before, I became a physician because I wanted to have my work serve to help humanity, which is not possible without developing compassion and a true dedication to learning to do things the right way for the right reasons. I thus sought to complete my formal academic investigations through a Doctor of Divinity degree.

Anyone who has read the Bible—or even has a passing familiarity with religion—has likely heard the phrase, ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it,’ from the Gospel of John. For me, that’s the essence of what I strive for: to be a light in dark places, where it’s most needed, and to be competent, kind, resilient, and dedicated enough as to overcome the darkness. To do that, I realized I needed to grow into a well-rounded physician, surgeon, healthcare executive, biomedical informaticist, and theologian.

What are some significant patient outcomes in your work, either in practice or research, that you are most proud of?

One of the most significant outcomes of my work was a study that led to the published article, “Azithromycin in the Treatment of Preterm Prelabor Rupture of Membranes Demonstrates a Lower Risk of Chorioamnionitis and Postpartum Endometritis with an Equivalent Latency Period Compared with Erythromycin Antibiotic Regimen.” This was the only prospective study to look into the issue of preterm prelabor rupture of membranes, a condition where a women’s water breaks early and puts her fetus at risk for preterm delivery and infection. The study showed lower risks for certain infections and neonatal sepsis with the use of azithromycin compared to other antibiotics.

Our conclusions were validated by other studies, and, and now the standard of care is to use the regimen that our paper found was optimal. In that way, our work has affected thousands across the country and probably the world. I am proud of how even contributions at our level can ultimately affect the broader fields in a positive way .     

What might people be surprised to know about you?

People might be surprised to know that I have a twin brother. He is a fashion designer for Adidas, but also serves as their regional visual manager, which means he has to be adept at working with people (like a physician), managing business/supply chain issues (like a healthcare executive), being skilled working with tools and sewing (like a surgeon), and understanding how to make predictions in the field of fashion and marketing (like a scientist). We always laugh about the similarly dissimilar lives we live, and he is my greatest friend and blessing.

What had the most impact on you during your time at Rutgers SHP?

I will say first and foremost that my time at Rutgers with Dr. Mitrofanova was the single greatest educational experience of my entire career, and I am grateful for the opportunity. Dr. Mitrofanova successfully represents what is really the goal I strive for as it pertains to being both a physician and an academic mentor, which is no doubt why she has received all the accolades she has. (Most recently, Dr. Mitrofanova was honored with the U.S. government’s highest recognition for exceptional early-career scientists and engineers by the Biden Administration in early January for her groundbreaking work in cancer research.)