Awards

Director: David Stern, PhD

The Career Enhancement Program (CEP) of YSPORE will develop a new cadre of investigative cutaneous oncologists and scientists committed to multidisciplinary studies investigating the relevance of biological discoveries in human skin cancer risk, prevention, diagnosis, prognosis or treatment, and enhance the careers of individuals who are already productively investigating within this field. CEP is able to support 2-3 faculty-level awards per year using institutional matching funds. Potential candidates for these awards include promising junior faculty who are either appointed at Yale, or are external candidates or new recruits for Yale appointment. Alternatively, candidates may be established investigators, either currently at Yale or in the process of being recruited to Yale. These candidates will have had a previous research focus in other arenas, but will have re-channeled a significant portion of their focus to translational research in cutaneous oncology. All junior faculty awardees are paired with an established investigator in translational cutaneous oncology with a documented record of successful mentoring.

Susan Gueble, MD, PhD: Defining the Interactions of a Novel DNA Modifying Agent with Melanoma Specific Genetic Features and Molecular Targeted Agents.
Mentors: Ranjit Bindra, MD, PhD; Harriet Kluger, MD

Ana Luisa Perdigoto, MD, PhD: Investigating Mechanisms of Checkpoint Inhibitor-Induced Diabetes.
Mentors: Kevan Herold, MD; Harriet Kluger, MD

Jeffrey Ishizuka MD, DPhil: Therapeutic mRNA Vaccination for Merkel Cell Polyomavirus-driven Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC).
Mentors: Markus Müschen, MD, PhD; Akiko Iwasaki, PhD

Goran Micevic, MD, PhD: Developing an Epigenetic Prognostic Marker for Early-Stage Melanoma.
Mentors: Richard Flavell, PhD; Marcus Bosenberg, MD, PhD

Thuy Tran, MD, PhD: Inhibiting Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) to Overcome Immune Checkpoint Resistance.
Mentors: Richard Bucala, MD, PhD; Harriet Kluger, MD

Claudio Alarcón, PhD: Role of m6A in Melanoma Initiation and Progression.
Mentors: Mark Lemmon, PhD; Marcus Bosenberg, MD, PhD

Thuy Tran, MD, PhD: Inhibiting Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) to Overcome Immune Checkpoint Resistance.
Mentors: Richard Bucala, MD, PhD; Harriet Kluger, MD

James Clune, MD: Defining the Desmoplastic Melanoma Tumor Microenvironment.
Mentors: Mario Sznol, MD; Harriet Kluger, MD; Ruth Halaban, PhD; Marcus Bosenberg, MD, PhD

Caroline Johnson, PhD: Tumor Microenvironment Metabolite Composition Regulates Anti-Melanoma Immune Responses.
Mentor: Marcus Bosenberg, MD, PhD

Renelle Lim, MD: DNA Methylation Signature for Conjunctival Melanoma.
Mentors: Marcus Bosenberg, MD, PhD; Harriet Kluger, MD

Kelly Olino, MD, and Jeffrey Ishizuka, MD, DPhil: Defining and Reshaping the Merkel Cell Carcinoma Tumor-Immune Microenvironment.
Mentors: Mario Sznol, MD; Harriet Kluger, MD; Ruth Halaban, PhD; Marcus Bosenberg, MD, PhD

Nikhil Joshi, PhD: Investigating Potential Mechanisms of Severe Immune Related Adverse Events (iRAEs) Following Treatment of Melanoma with Immune Checkpoints.
Mentors: Richard Flavell, PhD; Joseph Craft, MD

Rachel Perry, PhD: Impact of Mitochondrial Uncoupling on Tumor Growth and Immune Cell Substrate Preference in Melanoma.
Mentor: Marcus Bosenberg, MD, PhD

Aaron Ring, MD, PhD: Evaluation of Engineered Combination Immunotherapies for Melanoma.
Mentors: Richard Flavell, PhD; Marcus Bosenberg, MD, PhD

William Damsky, MD, PhD: Evaluating the Role of Cancer Associated Fibroblast (CAFs) in Modulating anti-melanoma Immune Responses.
Mentors: Richard Flavell, PhD; Marcus Bosenberg, MD, PhD

Nikhil Joshi, PhD: Investigating Potential Mechanisms of Severe Immune Related Adverse Events (iRAEs) Following Treatment of Melanoma with Immune Checkpoints.
Mentors: Richard Flavell, PhD; Joseph Craft, MD

Rachel Perry, PhD: Impact of Mitochondrial Uncoupling on Tumor Growth and Immune Cell Substrate Preference in Melanoma.
Mentor: Marcus Bosenberg, MD, PhD

Sarah Slavoff, PhD: Targeting Degradation of Sox10 in Melanoma.
Mentor: Ruth Halaban, PhD

Director: David Stern, PhD

The primary goal of the YSPORE Developmental Research Program (DRP) is to provide limited support (maximum of $50,000 per year, over two years) for a broad spectrum of innovative skin cancer pilot projects. These involve research, resources, and technology development applicable to human skin cancer risk, prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment. Pilot projects must have promising translational research potential, with anticipation that they can eventually develop into, or be incorporated into, full projects with an unequivocal clinical translational component. Such projects could either be developed into independent external funding at a scope and scale equivalent to a NIH R01 grant, or alternatively augment or replace a Project in future cycles of YSPORE. A second goal of this DRP is to broaden the collective of Yale investigators who are actively engaged in research related to human cutaneous oncology.

Mechanically Driven Etiology of Acral Melanoma. Michael Mak, PhD

Anti-Human Melanoma (MART-1-Specific) T Cell Responses: Initiation by mRNATransfected Human Physiologic Dendritic Cells (phDCs). Kazuki Tatsuno, MD, PhD

Targeting Ferroptosis to Modulate Melanoma Growth and Anti-Melanoma Immune Responses. Caroline Johnson, PhD

IL-22 mRNA-Targeted Oligonucleotide Preventive Strategies in UV-induced Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Jeff Bender, MD

Therapeutic Targeting of Gene Amplifications in Melanomas. Faye Rogers, PhD

SETDB1 Histone Methyltransferase as a Molecular Target to Enhance Immune Therapy in Melanoma. Karen Anderson, PhD

Tumor Secreted ECM Factors as Regulators of Metastatic Dormancy in Melanoma. Lucia Jilaveanu, MD, PhD

A Novel CAR Therapy for Skin Cancer. Xiaolei Su, PhD

The Functional Role of N6mA in Melanoma. Andrew Xiao, PhD

Novel Therapies for b-catenin Activated Melanomas. Julide Celebi, MD (Mount Sinai)

Tumor Secreted ECM Factors as Regulators of Metastatic Dormancy in Melanoma. Lucia Jilaveanu, MD, PhD

A Novel CAR Therapy for Skin Cancer. Xiaolei Su, PhD

Synthetic Engineering of Improved Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs) for Human Melanoma. Samuel Katz, MD, PhD

Quantitative Cellular and Molecular Imaging of Intact Tumor Microenvironments. Karolina Palucka, PhD.

Development of a Companion Diagnostic Test for Immunotherapy in the Adjuvant Setting for Melanoma. David Rimm, MD, PhD

N6-methyladenine DNA Modification in Melanoma and its Role in SATB1 Mediated PD-1 Expression. Andrew Xiao, PhD

Exploring BRAFV600E Resistance with MKP3 Inhibition in Metastatic Melanoma. Anton Bennet, PhD

Mechanisms of MEK1 Activation and Inhibitor Resistance by Melanoma-Associated Mutations. Benjamin Turk, PhD