Looking at his career, it might seem like Hussein Tawbi, M.D., Ph.D., was destined to become one of the founding leaders of  MD Anderson’s Andrew M. McDougall Brain Metastasis Clinic and Research Program. Each decision he made and each new role he took prepared him in a different way for his current work.

But that wasn’t always the plan. When Tawbi began medical school, he wanted to become a gastroenterologist. It wasn...