Alumni Spotlight: Ion Cotarla
Creating Hope for Patients Every Day
Dr. Cotarla completed his PhD in Tumor Biology in 2006.
Ion Cotarla,MD, PhD completed his PhD in Tumor Biology in April 2006 after presenting his three-part thesis on the role of two different proteins in the development of breast cancer. Dr Cotarla began his program of study at the University of Maryland with Priscilla Furth, MD, PhD, and followed her to Lombardi in 2001.
"The focus in the Lombardi program is papers, creativity, and critical thinking," he said. "I think this is great preparation for a future career."
Dr. Cotarla received his medical degree from Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Romania. During his training there he completed a rotation in oncology and was troubled by work in the field because he was unable to help so many patients.
"Research is the opposite," he said. "I am creating hope to help many people, and that is why I wanted to study tumor biology."
After completing his PhD, Dr. Cotarla joined the Developmental Therapeutics Clinic at Lombardi as a clinical research coordinator. In this capacity, he has work with patients to make sure they understand the clinical trials in which they are participating, and will follow their progress to watch for side effects. Ultimately, Dr. Cotarla plans to complete a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in oncology so that he, like many of Lombardi’s clinicians, can treat patients and continue to create hope through new research.
