Dr. Westover is the principal investigator of the Westover Lab at UT Southwestern, which focuses on discovering targeted therapies for major drivers of cancer using protein chemistry, enzymology, structural biology, informatics, and cell biology; drug targets include RAS and kinase proteins. Work from the Westover Lab established paradigms for allele-specific approaches to RAS-targeted drugs. This includes targeting KRAS G12C with covalent inhibitors; inhibitors published by the Westover Lab directly inspired the development of FDA-approved RAS-G12C targeted drugs sotorasib and adagrasib. Additional work on RAS mutants that are activated by high nucleotide exchange rates, such as KRAS G13D and A146T, has inspired therapeutic concepts currently in development. Finally, foundational work on catalytically dead mutants, such as RAS codon 61 mutants, is inspiring an entirely new category of RAS-targeted therapies.

As Director of Clinical Innovation and Information Systems, Dr. Westover has implemented numerous software tools to manage clinical operations. These include the RO-PAD exam room management system, patient wait time displays, a two-way provider messaging system, an automated chart rounds patient list system, and various clinical tools in the EPIC health care software medical record environment. He has also overseen the implementation of interfaces between radiation-focused electronic medical record systems and EPIC.

In his role as Chief of Lung Radiation Oncology Service, Dr. Westover is focused on using adaptive radiation technologies to benefit lung cancer patients. Currently, his team is studying the benefits of delivering SAbR/SBRT fractions spaced by three weeks in high-risk patients (those with ILD or high-grade COPD). This approach may improve treatment tolerability, reduce the dose to normal tissue through tumor shrinkage, and enable the immune system to cooperate with radiation therapy. Additionally, his team is investigating the utility of using MRI-guided systems to accomplish these goals.