Dr O’Rorke has been an assistant professor (Cancer/Molecular Epidemiology) at the College of Public Health since August 2018. Michael’s main research efforts primarily relate to his work with the Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in carcinoid and neuroendocrine tumors (NET). He received funding in 2021 from PCORI to engage some 3,000 NET patients and stakeholders in the conduct of a nationwide prospective cohort study (NET-PRO), answering comparative effectiveness research questions and, optimizing the effectiveness and sequencing of therapy for NET patients. Michael also helps oversee the operations of the residual and virtual tissue repositories at the Iowa Cancer Registry, which supports the use of diagnostic tissue in population-based cancer research. He is very proud of his parent’s avocation for further and higher education. Coming from a disadvantaged background, the family has seen all six first generation siblings obtain University degrees, and compete for professional roles in varying environments including education, retail and management and computer science.