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Ruth Halaban, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

Contact Information

Ruth Halaban, PhD

Mailing Address

  • Dermatology

    PO Box 208059, 15 York St. HRT604A

    New Haven, CT 06520-8059

    United States

Research Summary

Dr. Halaban's research is focused on melanoma and the main interests are: 1) novel mutations that promote melanoma initiations and metastasis; 2) molecular mechanism that leads to melanoma resistance to therapy; 3) new targets for therapy; and 4) the application molecular diagnosis of melanoma in the clinic. Most recently Dr. Halaban has been engaged in sequencing the melanoma exome and transcriptome and relating the mutations to melanoma cell uncontrolled growth and drug response. These studies were facilitated by the Yale SPORE in Skin Cancer (YSPORE), a program funded over the past 19 years by the NCI/NIH. The Tissue Resource Core of the YSPORE, managed by Ms. Antonella Bacchiocchi, has accumulated a large collection of tumor tissues, PBL, serum/plasma, normal skin, and cultured normal melanocytes and melanoma cells. The Core routinely performs targeted sequencing of melanoma oncogenes and validation of exome-capture sequencing data. In addition, the Core records each patient detailed clinical information and treatment outcome. These resources are shared with investigators at Yale, other Skin Cancer SPOREs, nationally and around the world and have been the subject of multiple publications.

Coauthors

Research Interests

Dermatology; Malignant Catarrh; Melanocytes; Melanoma; Pigmentation; Transformation, Genetic; Signal Transduction; Gene Expression; Hyperpigmentation; Cell Proliferation; Histiocytoma, Malignant Fibrous

Selected Publications