Dr. Patel is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center, where she is the Director of the Gastrointestinal Hereditary Cancer Program. Her clinical and research interests are in improving the identification of individuals with hereditary cancer syndromes and early-age onset colorectal cancer.

She is the 2022 President of the Collaborative Group of the Americans on Inherited Gastrointestinal Cancers, a premiere professional society dedicated to advancing research and clinical care for patients with hereditary GI cancer syndromes. She sits on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Colorectal Cancer Screening Guideline Committee and is a member of the United States Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer, where she recently led the updated screening guidelines supporting expanding colorectal cancer screening to 45-49- year olds.