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.
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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 melanomaHensin 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.
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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 melanomaLinda 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.
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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 psoriasisAndrew 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.
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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 sequencingRaymond 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.
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Spiro Getsios, PhD
2012 Research Scholar Award
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Topic: EphA2 as a molecular and therapeutic target in psoriasisSpiro 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.
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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 signalingKenneth 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.
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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 responsesBotond 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.
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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 infectionsLloyd 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.
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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 inflammationJane 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.
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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 specificationJennifer 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.
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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 expectancyEleni 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.
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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 strategyJoshua 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.
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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 studyChristina 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.
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Elisha Garg
2012 Medical Student Grant Targeting Melanoma and Skin Cancer
University of California, Los Angeles
Topic: RTK coactivation in B-RAF inhibitor resistant melanomasElisha 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.
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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 melanomaEuphemia 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.
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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 receptorsEva 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:
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