Dr. Alexander Pohlman is a general surgery resident at the University of Illinois at Chicago, currently completing two years of dedicated research within the department of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery at Loyola University Chicago. He has a strong interest in thoracic oncology and plans to apply to a cardiothoracic surgery fellowship after completion of his general surgery training. He first began his involvement in cancer research within Rush University Medical Center’s department of medical oncology while he was a college student. He initially completed clinical research reviewing cell counts in relation to lung cancer survival, but quickly became connected with others in the department where he got involved with the lung cancer-screening program. Alex saw a significant need for improvement in this program as the hospital’s registry was years behind and seemingly few providers were recommending it to their patients. After gathering copious amounts of data on the efficacy of the current screening program, this group presented their results at the Chicago radiological society and Rush’s quality fair where it gained significant traction. Alex deepened his interest during medical school by further exploring the field of thoracic surgery where he gained both clinical and research experience. This led to a basic science publication on a new immunotherapy agent and a first author publication summarizing biomarkers within the IGF pathway that may be used as a supplement to lung cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment. Since that time, Alex has completed two years of general surgery training and is now taking two dedicated research years at Loyola, working with Dr. Zaid Abdelsattar. His current work at Loyola involves a combination of clinical and bench research with a focus on analyzing large national datasets. He aims to continue developing his skillset as a surgeon-scientist in training, while further improving all aspects of thoracic oncological care from diagnosis to treatment.