Ryan Fields, MD
From the early days of his training, Ryan Fields, MD, knew he wanted to be a surgical oncologist with a focus on basic and translational research. He solidified this career path by completing the general surgery residency at Washington University and a surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
When he returned to Washington University to join the faculty, senior colleagues David Linehan, MD, (now surgery chairman, Rochester University) William Hawkins, MD, William Chapman, MD, Jeffrey Moley, MD, and Timothy Eberlein, MD, provided the mentorship he needed to achieve his goals.
Fields now collaborates with a multidisciplinary team in developing a mouse model for testing cancer immunotherapies. And as director of resident research, he emulates his predecessor, Craig Coopersmith, MD (now professor of surgery, Emory University), providing early training on grant writing and serving as ombudsman when rare problems occur.