I am a head and neck surgical oncologist at MD Anderson Cancer Center whose clinical and research efforts are devoted to oral cancer and oral premalignant lesions (OPL). My work focuses on preventing transformation of high‑risk OPL to oral squamous cell carcinoma by integrating specialized multidisciplinary OPL clinics with prospective tissue and brush biopsy–based genomic profiling. Using validated non‑invasive brush biopsy and single‑cell RNA‑seq–driven tumor atlas efforts, my laboratory dissects subclonal evolution, metabolic vulnerabilities, and tumor–microenvironment interactions in oral carcinogenesis to enable improved risk stratification and development of targeted interception strategies.