Scientific Advisory Committee
Each year, the Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF) is able to provide emerging and established scientific investigators with highly sought-after grants that will allow them to explore new avenues in melanoma biology and treatments ultimately leading to a cure.
To guide our research grant program, we are honored to have an extraordinary Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) comprised of the leading clinical and pre-clinical melanoma researchers in the United States who contribute their time and expertise to support the MRF’s mission.
The current members of the MRF’s Scientific Advisory Committee are:
Boris C. Bastian, M.D.
Professor of Dermatology and Pathology
Leader, Cutaneous Oncology Program
UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, California
Marianne Berwick, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Professor and Chief, Division of Epidemiology
Head, Epidemiology and Cancer Prevention
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Paul B. Chapman, M.D.
Attending Physician, Melanoma/Sarcoma Service
Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Professor of Medicine, Weill-Cornell Medical School
New York, New York
Alistair J. Cochran, M.D.
Departments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Surgery
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
David E. Fisher, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, Melanoma Program and Chief, Department of Dermatology
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center
Boston, Massachusetts
Keith T. Flaherty, M.D.
Director, Developmental Therapeutics
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts
Elizabeth A. Grimm, Ph.D.
Frances King Black Memorial Professor of Cancer Research
Department of Experimental Therapeutics and Melanoma Medical Oncology
University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas
Ruth Halaban, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist
Yale University School of Medicine
Department of Dermatology
New Haven, Connecticut
Allan Halpern, M.D.
Chief, Dermatology Service
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
New York, New York
Mary J.C. Hendrix, Ph.D.
President and Scientific Director
Medical Research Institute Council Professor
Children’s Memorial Research Center
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Chicago, Illinois
Meenhard Herlyn, D.V.M., D.Sc.
Co-Chair, MRF Scientific Advisory Committee
Professor and Program Leader
Molecular and Cellular Oncogenesis Program
The Wistar Institute
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Patrick Hwu, M.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology
University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas
Howard L. Kaufman, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Director, Rush Cancer Center Program
Rush University Medical Center
Chicago, Illinois
Randy Lomax, M.A., M.F.T.
Chair, Melanoma Research Foundation
San Francisco, California
Daniel Pinkel, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine
UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, California
Ze'ev Ronai, Ph.D.
Professor and Director, Signal Transduction Program
Associate Director, NCI Cancer Center
Burnham Institute for Medical Research
La Jolla, California
Lynn Schuchter, M.D.
Co-Chair, MRF Scientific Advisory Committee
Chief, Hematology/Oncology, Professor of Medicine
Leader: Melanoma Program
Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Vernon K. Sondak, M.D.
Department Chair, Cutaneous Oncology
Director of Surgical Education
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute
Tampa, Florida
Nancy E. Thomas, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Dermatology
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Jeffrey Weber, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, Donald A. Adam Comprehensive Melanoma Research Center
Senior Member, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute
Tampa, Florida
