I am an academic thoracic oncologist with an interest in identifying novel biomarkers in thoracic malignancies and in the development of targeted therapies for lung cancer. My research interests revolve around two general themes. The first is to optimize clinical outcomes for patients with lung cancer by using molecular methods to identify prognostic and predictive biomarkers that allow for a greater and more personalized selection of Tejas Patil, MDanti-cancer therapies. The second is to understand adaptive mechanisms utilized by cancer cells that allow survival following targeted therapies and to develop novel approaches to overcome these resistance mechanisms. I have worked very closely with the University of Colorado lung cancer program and have designed a large electronic database of all patients seen through the University of Colorado lung program over the past twelve years. This database connects detailed information regarding demographics, staging, pathology, molecular testing, and clinical outcomes. I have leveraged this architecture to generate numerous clinical studies, with several resulting in publications, some of which are listed below.