Derek studied Biology at Yale University before arriving at Oxford on a 2014 Marshall Scholarship. He continued work from his time at Moffitt Cancer Center to investigate mathematical models of cancer disease and treatment. In this realm of mathematical oncology. 

Derek’s DPhil project investigated models of hematopoietic and leukemic stem cells to create clinically relevant models for predicting disease, optimizing therapy, and suggesting novel routes of treating hematopoietic cancers.