I’ve seen what happens when people are left behind, and I’ve built my career around one belief: everyone deserves effective healthcare that they can afford.

My path to medicine began with service. As a young man, I worked in Kolkata, India with Mother Teresa’s Home for the Destitute and the Dying, where I witnessed the transformative power of compassion to heal, even in the face of unimaginable hardship. Years later, when Ebola broke out in West Africa and I volunteered, I chose to be on the front lines, because when people are suffering, you don’t wait for someone else to step up. You show up.

When I came home to North Carolina, I brought that same sense of duty to my work as a family physician and later at Blue Ridge Health, where I served as CEO. Under my leadership, we expanded access to care for thousands of families across Western North Carolina in nine rural counties. And when Hurricane Helene struck our region, I helped lead our health center‘s response and our collaboration with the region’s response, making sure care reached all those who needed help. To me, leadership means running toward the crisis, not away from it.

I earned my B.A. from Duke University and my M.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, then completed a family medicine residency at the University of Cincinnati and an obstetrics fellowship at the University of Utah. My wife and I raised our two children here in Western North Carolina.

I’m running because I believe this moment demands leaders who still understand what service means. Leaders who know that integrity isn’t a slogan — it’s a practice. I’m not in this to score points or win headlines. I’m here because I’ve seen what happens when politicians stop listening to the people they represent. Western North Carolina doesn’t need another politician making promises. We need a doctor who knows how to diagnose what’s broken, and fight like hell to fix it.