Maaike van Gerwen, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor and Director of Research at the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, is heading two novel studies that could lead to a better understanding of thyroid cancer among patients exposed to toxins during the World Trade Center (WTC) attacks. One study uses metabolomics to investigate the potential causes of inflammation and thyroid cancer among WTC-exposed first responders; the other examines thyroid cancer among people who lived, worked, or went to school near the disaster.