My primary clinical interest relates to the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. I hold the S.T. Harris Family Distinguished Chair in Breast Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center Dallas and I am the Medical Director of the UT Southwestern Center for Breast Care. I am Chief of the Section of Breast and Soft Tissue Surgical Oncology at UT Southwestern. As the principal investigator at UT Southwestern for ACOSOG, ALLIANCE and NSABP trials, I administrate and accrue patients to these trials.  I am a co- investigator on our institutional LAPS NCI CTN grant. At our institution, I collaborate with our radiation oncologists in investigator initiated trials to minimize radiation and surgery for breast cancer patients. 

Nationally, I have been actively involved in breast cancer research issues via my participation in the NCI Breast Cancer Steering Committee/ The Breast Cancer Intergroup and as Chair of the Executive Committee of the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group and as a member of the BOLD Task Force for the NCI Breast Cancer Steering Committee. My interest in developing strategies to minimize local regional therapy has led to my participation in the design and performance of neoadjuvant trials in ACOSOG and ALLIANCE. I serve as the surgery co-chair for the ALLIANCE trial A011106: ALTernate approaches for clinical stage II or III Estrogen Receptor positive breast cancer NeoAdjuvant TrEatment (ALTERNATE) in postmenopausal women: A Phase III Study. Much of my clinical trials work has centered around minimizing surgery for breast cancer, particularly with respect to lymph node staging. I was involved in study design and performance for 2 major practice changing trials related to sentinel node surgery, ACOSOG Z10 and Z11. I have collaborated on the design of the COMET trial for ductal carcinoma in situ to assess the role of observation versus standard surgical approaches to ductal carcinoma in situ. I am committed to being involved in developing the research agenda for the local regional management of breast cancer through the collaborative opportunities with all disciplines involved in breast cancer treatment.