I was born in New York City to two hard-working and driven parents who encouraged me to pursue my passions and not back down from a challenge. I determined I loved science in high school and earned a Westinghouse Science Talent Search award for work done on vaccine development. In college, at Duke University, I decided to pursue medical school when a friend had a relapse of her cancer. Medical school and Pediatrics Residency was in NYC at Columbia University and Mount Sinai respectively where my passion for caring for children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was solidified. For Fellowship I moved my family to Texas to pursue pediatric oncology training at Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine and continued on to get my Ph.D. in Clinical Investigation. The resources at TCH/BCM have allowed me to become an outstanding clinician, a recognized educator, and to pursue my goal of improving outcomes for the next generation of children to be diagnosed with AML.