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2012 Award and Grant Recipients

Below are brief biographies for American Skin Association's 2012 grantees. Among the information included is the title of the grant, the name of the sponsoring institution and the focus of the grant recipient's research.

  • Hensin Tsao, MD, PhD
    Abby S. & Howard P. Milstein 2010 Innovation Award for Melanoma and Skin Cancer Research
    Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School
    Topic: p53 rescue as a therapeutic strategy in melanoma

    Hensin Tsao is an Associate Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Melanoma and Pigmented Lesion Center, the oldest multi-disciplinary melanoma unit in the country.

    Dr. Tsao graduated from Brown University with a degree in biochemistry and English. In 1993, he received an MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and a PhD in Biophysics/Biochemistry from Columbia University Graduate School of Arts of Sciences. He trained both in internal medicine and dermatology, including a melanoma fellowship at the Harvard-affiliated hospitals, and a postdoctoral fellowship in the Division of Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital.

  • Lynda Chin, MD
    Abby S. & Howard P. Milstein 2009 Innovation Award for Melanoma and Skin Cancer Research
    University of Texas MD Anderson Center
    Topic: Rational therapeutic strategy against BRAF mutant melanoma

    Linda Chin is Professor and Chair of the Department of Genomic Medicine and Scientific Director of Institute for Applied Cancer Science at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center.

    Dr. Chin received her MD from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1993. She is a board-certified dermatologist and conducted her clinical and scientific training at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine where she served as Chief Resident of Dermatology.

  • Andrew Johnston, PhD
    Carson Family 2011-12 Research Scholar Award in Psoriasis
    University of Michigan
    Topic: Biologic roles of the novel pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-17C in psoriasis

    Andrew Johnston is a Research Assistant Professor, University of Michigan, Department of Dermatology. Dr. Johnston completed his PhD at the University of Warwick Medical Research Institute in Coventry, England, and received post-doctoral training on psoriasis immunology at the National University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland. He completed his post-doctoral training on keratinocyte biology at the University of Michigan, Department of Dermatology in Ann Arbor.

  • Raymond J. Cho, MD, PhD
    Abby S. & Howard P. Milstein 2012 Research Scholar Award in Melanoma
    University of California, San Francisco
    Topic: Dissecting the temporal mutational evolution of non-melanoma skin cancers using whole-genome sequencing

    Raymond Cho is an Assistant Professor at University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Cho received both his MD and PhD from Stanford University Medical School. He is both a clinician and a geneticist. He collaborates closely with the Knight Cancer Institute in Oregon as well as UCSF Dermatology.

  • Spiro Getsios, PhD
    2012 Research Scholar Award
    Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
    Topic: EphA2 as a molecular and therapeutic target in psoriasis

    Spiro Getsios is an Assistant Professor of Dermatology, Cell and Molecular Biology (Adjunct), and the Director of the Skin Disease Research Center Keratinocyte Core at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. A native of Montreal, Canada, Dr. Getsios completed his undergraduate training at McGill University and received his M.Sc. and PhD from University of British Columbia.

  • Kenneth Y. Tsai, MD, PhD
    2012 Research Scholar Award in Melanoma/Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer
    University of Texas MD Anderson Center
    Topic: Pharmacologic BRAF inhibition: The impact of stress activated protein kinase signaling

    Kenneth Tsai is Assistant Professor of Dermatology and Immunology at MD Anderson Cancer Center. He received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He trained in dermatology and dermatopathology at Harvard Medical School prior to joining the faculty at MD Anderson Center.

  • Botond Z. Igyarto, PhD
    Alice P. Melly 2011-12 Research Grant in Autoimmune & Inflammatory Skin Diseases
    University of Minnesota
    Topic: Langerhans cells as master modulators of skin related immune responses

    Botond Igyarto is a Research Associate at the Kaplan Lab, University of Minnesota Department of Dermatology. Dr. Igyarto received his MS in Biology at Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj, Romania, and his PhD at Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary.

  • Lloyd S. Miller, MD, PhD
    2012 Research Grant in Childhood Skin Diseases & Disfigurement
    University of California, Los Angeles
    Topic: A mouse model of atopic dermatitis to investigate the contribution of filaggrin mutations to the increased susceptibility to S. Aureaus skin infections

    Lloyd Miller earned his BA in Biology at the Johns Hopkins University in 1994 and his MD and PhD degrees from the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in 2000. In 2001, Dr. Miller combined his residency training in dermatology with a post-doctoral research fellowship as part of the UCLA Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) Program.

  • Jane Yoo, MD
    2012 Research Grant in Psoriasis & Inflammatory Diseases
    University of Washington, Seattle
    Topic: Investigating the role of the ae (CD103) B7 integrin in activation of cutaneous CD4+Foxp3+T regulatory cells during skin inflammation

    Jane Yoo received her MD from Washington University in St. Louis and completed her Internal Medicine internship, dermatology residency, and postdoctoral fellowships in Immunology and Dermatology at the University of Washington. She is currently an Acting Instructor in Dermatology at the University of Washington.

  • Jennifer Y. Zhang, PhD
    2012 Research Grant in Melanoma & Skin Cancer
    Duke University Medical Center
    Topic: The dynamics of CYLD and SHH signaling pathways in epidermal cell lineage and skin cancer specification

    Jennifer Y. Zhang is an Assistant Professor at Duke University, Department of Dermatology and a faculty member of the Duke Cancer Institute. She received her BS from Nankai University in Tianjin, China and PhD from University of Florida in Gainesville. Dr. Zhang obtained post-doctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco and Stanford University.

  • Eleni Linos, MD
    2012 Quality of Life Outcomes Study in Skin Cancer
    University of California, San Francisco
    Topic: Non-melanoma skin cancer outcomes in patients with limited life expectancy

    Eleni Linos is Assistant Professor of Dermatology at UCSF. Dr. Linos completed her undergraduate and medical training at Cambridge and Oxford Universities in the UK. She then moved to Harvard for a Masters and Doctorate degree in Public Health, and completed residency in dermatology at Stanford University. She is originally from Athens, Greece.

  • Joshua Farhadian
    2012 Medical Student Grant Targeting Melanoma and Skin Cancer
    New York University School of Medicine
    Topic: Targeting the hedgehog pathway in melanoma: A novel therapeutic strategy

    Joshua Farhadian is from Port Washington, New York. He graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently a fourth year medical student in the Honors Program at New York University School of Medicine. He plans to apply for residency in dermatology this year.

  • Christina Gamba
    2012 Medical Student Grant Targeting Melanoma and Skin Cancer
    Stanford University School of Medicine
    Topic: Serum vitamin D levels and risk of developing melanoma: Women’s health initiative study

    Christina Gamba received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University, where she studied English and Creative Writing. She is currently a fourth year medical student at Stanford University School of Medicine and has devoted a year to pursue dermatoepidemiology research. She is originally from Jacksonville, Florida.

  • Elisha Garg
    2012 Medical Student Grant Targeting Melanoma and Skin Cancer
    University of California, Los Angeles
    Topic: RTK coactivation in B-RAF inhibitor resistant melanomas

    Elisha Garg is a second year medical student at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry at Stanford University in 2009. She was born and raised in the Bay Area, CA.

  • Euphemia W. Mu
    2012 Medical Student Grant Targeting Melanoma and Skin Cancer
    Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
    Topic: Defining the transcriptome and clinical outcomes in pediatric melanoma

    Euphemia Mu completed her undergraduate studies at Princeton University where she majored in molecular biology and conducted research in breast cancer metastasis. She is currently attending Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and investigating melanoma in the pediatric population. She grew up in Charlotte, NC.

  • Eva Simanyi
    2012 Medical Student Grant Targeting Melanoma and Skin Cancer
    University of Alabama
    Topic: Regulation of ultraviolet radiation induced DNA damage and repair by toll-like receptors

    Eva Simanyi is a first year medical student at the University of Alabama School of Medicine. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Sciences at Auburn University in 2011. She was born in Budapest, Hungary, and moved to Birmingham, Alabama in 1999.

Recipients list by year:
2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012

Complete List of Research Grant & Award Recipients