David Pfau, M.D.
Before Fellowship
- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology
- M.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
- Internship at Cleveland Clinic Foundation
- Residency in Diagnostic Radiology at the University of Colorado, Chief Resident
Accomplishments and Awards
- University of Colorado Radiology Resident Teaching Award 2025
- CWRU graduation with honors distinction in research 2020
- USPTO Collegiate Inventors Competition Bronze Medal Finalist- The Billion Bottle Project 2018
- Poster of Distinction: American Head and Neck Society 2017
- CWRU Dean’s Summer Research Award 2016
- Pi Tau Sigma International Mechanical Engineering Honor Society 2014
- Georgia Tech President’s Undergraduate Research Award 2013 & 2014
- Eagle Scout Rank 2010
Patents
- Datta, S, Pfau, D, Tippareddy, C. (2022). Ultraviolet (UV) Dosimetry. (U.S. Patent No. US 11,231,506 B2). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Peer Reviewed Articles
- Gosh, et al. “Beta-Defensin Index: A Functional Biomarker for Oral Cancer Detection.” Cell Reports Medicine, 5.3 (2024).
- Ghaffer S, Pfau D, Madhuripan N, Harmon R, Neto A, Gleisner A. “Intrabiliary metastasis of colorectal mucinous adenocarcinoma mimicking choledocholithiasis 18 years after the primary tumor.” Radiology Case Reports, 19.5
(2024): 1781-1790.
- Pfau D, et al. “Imaging features of gastrointestinal toxicity in non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with erlotinib: A single institute 13-year experience.” Clinical Imaging (2020) DOI: 10.1016/j.clinimag.2020.08.017.
- Shieh AC, Guler E, Pfau D, et al. “Imaging and clinical manifestations of immune checkpoint inhibitor-related colitis in cancer patients treated with monotherapy or combination therapy.” Abdominal Radiology (2020).
- Smith DA, Pfau D, Tirumani SH, Allessandrino F, Sadri N, Ramaiya NH. “Decoding the Genomic Report for Radiologists” American Journal of Roentgenology (2020). DOI: 10.2214/AJR.19.21677.
- Pfau D, Smith DA, Beck R, Gilani KA, Gupta A, Caimi P, Ramaiya NH. “Primary Mediastinal B-Cell Lymphoma: A Review for Radiologists” American Journal of Roentgenology (2019).
- Pfau D, Tamaki A, Hoppe KR, Honda K, Rezaee R, Zender CA. “Sentinel Node Biopsy in Young Patients with Atypical Melanocytic Tumors of the Head and Neck” Oto Open 2019; DOI: 10.1177/2473974X19850752.
- Olingy CE, et al. “Non-classical monocytes are biased progenitors of wound healing macrophages during soft tissue injury” Sci Rep 2017; 7:447. PMCID: PMC5428475.
Abstracts
- Hashmi AF, et al. “Comparison of panendoscopy directed biopsies with percutaneous and image-guided biopsies during immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy” American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL (2019). J Clin Oncol 37, 2019 (suppl; abstr e14084)
- Matsunaga F, Pfau D, Laukamp K, Kikano E, Ramaiya NH, Dowlati A. “Erlotinib monotherapy in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung carcinoma: A single center experience with 187 patients from 2005-2018” American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL (2019). J Clin Oncol 37, 2019 (suppl; abstr e20718)
Oral Presentations
- Pfau D, Smith DA, Beck R, Ramaiya NH. “Anterior mediastinal lymphomas: an approach for radiologists” Radiological Society of North America; Chicago, IL (2019)
- Pfau D, Honda K, Rezaee R, Zender C. “Sentinel lymph node biopsy in pediatric and young adult head and neck atypical melanocytic neoplasms” American Head and Neck Society; San Diego, CA (2017). (Pres. by Pfau, D)
- Pfau D, Ghosh S, Weinberg A. “Site-specific variations of B-defensin-2 and -3 in oral mucosa” International Association for Dental Research; San Francisco, CA (2017). (Pres. by Pfau, D)
- Datta S, Sinha A, Pfau D. “OSPRI: A Reusable Solar Water Disinfection Sensor to Prevent Waterborne Illnesses” Clinton Global Initiative University; Boston, MA (2017). (Pres. by all listed)
- Pfau D, Honda K, Rezaee R, Zender C. “Sentinel lymph node biopsy in pediatric and young adult head and neck atypical melanocytic neoplasms” Lepow Medical Student Research Day (2017). (Pres. by Pfau, D)
Research Experience
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Department of Abdominal Radiology 2023- Present (PI: Nikhil Madhuripan, MD)
- Investigating the use of fine-tuned open-source language learning AI models for the processing of clinical data and optimization of radiologist workflow.
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Department of Abdominal Radiology 2018-2020 (PI: Nikhil Ramaiya, MD)
- Project: “Tyrosine kinase and immune checkpoint inhibitors in oncology patients”
- Assisted in multiple studies related to imaging and immunotherapy including erlotinib adverse effect profiles, cancer genomics, therapy in non-small cell lung cancer, and mediastinal lymphoma features.
- Chart review, literature search, and manuscript/abstract preparation for 8 projects.
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Department of Otolaryngology 2016-2018 (PI: Chad Zender, MD)
- Project: “Sentinel lymph node biopsy in pediatric and young adult head and neck atypical melanocytic neoplasms”
- Project conception, IRB documentation, data collection, and manuscript preparation.
Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine 2015-2016 (PI: Aaron Weinberg, PhD)
- Project conception, IRB documentation, data collection, and manuscript preparation.
- Project: “Site-specific variations of B-defensin-2 and -3 in oral mucosa.”
- Basic science research on the use of hBD-2 and -3 for early detection of oral squamous cell carcinoma in both healthy and HIV patients via sample processing, ELISA data collection, and data analysis
Georgia Institute of Technology, Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering 2011-2015 (PI: Edward Botchwey, PhD)
- Basic science research on the use of hBD-2 and -3 for early detection of oral squamous cell carcinoma in both healthy and HIV patients via sample processing, ELISA data collection, and data analysis
- Project: “Non-classical monocytes are biased progenitors of wound healing macrophages during soft tissue injury”
- Developed MATLAB code to quantify confocal microscope imagery to expedite imaging data analysis; collected data on sphingosine pathways through RT-PCR.
Georgia Institute of Technology, Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering 2012-2014 (PI: David Spencer, PhD)
- Developed MATLAB code to quantify confocal microscope imagery to expedite imaging data analysis; collected data on sphingosine pathways through RT-PCR.
- Project: “Prox-1 Spacecraft”
- Designed solar panels for Prox-1, a student-designed cube satellite demonstrating automated trajectory control in low-Earth orbit, launched June 25, 2019.
Professional Memberships
- ACR
- AAR
- RSNA
- Colorado Radiological Society
