Turning Inspiration Into Innovation: Hazim’s Impact on Oncology

Antonious Hazim, MD, hematology medical oncology fellow at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, shares insights on his journey into oncology, his experiences at the Mayo Clinic, and his ongoing research.

Hazim's passion for oncology stems from both personal and academic influences, including his mother's breast cancer diagnosis and his early research on small cell lung cancer during his time at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

At the Mayo Clinic, Hazim emphasized the institution's patient-centered approach, where collaboration between medical students, residents, and attendings fosters an environment that prioritizes patient care, something that strongly aligns with his core values.

“I felt the collegiality, the research opportunities, the learning, especially as a fellow, [as] we really take on patients in our clinic [and we] get to build that one-on-one relationship with our patients,” says Hazim.

This ultimately led him to stay at the Mayo Clinic for fellowship after completing his internal medicine residency there. He now focuses some of his research on immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) toxicities, particularly ICI pneumonitis, thoracic malignancies, and other trials like EVEREST-1 (NCT05736731) and EVEREST-2 (NCT06051695), exploring chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies for solid tumors.

Looking ahead, he plans to specialize in thoracic oncology, a passion that is driven by the exciting developments in immunotherapies and targeted therapies. He advises aspiring oncologists to seek strong mentorship, begin research early, and remain committed to the patient-centered mission of oncology.

“We all chose this career because we really want to help patients, right? That should be your number one goal. For anyone who is pursuing a career in medical school for ambition, fame, money, those [are] all distractions, right? So, focusing on why we decided to choose a career in medicine and always focusing on helping our patient should be the number one goal and our top priority,” says Hazim.

“Hopefully, that could provide you some motivation and kind of a guiding light while you are grinding, working hard, working on publications, or staying late on call, because I think it is a great honor to be a clinician and to be able to help patients,” he adds.