I am a physician-scientist with a research program focused on antigen presentation and T cell responses in skin cancer. My research expertise includes antigen processing and presentation, T cell tolerance, mouse models of skin cancer and autoimmunity, and biomarker analysis in human specimens. My laboratory has defined gamma-interferon-inducible lysosomal thiol reductase (GILT) as a critical enzyme involved in MHC class II-restricted presentation and T cell tolerance to melanocyte differentiation antigens, which are important in immune recognition of melanoma and vitiligo pathogenesis. We have demonstrated that GILT expression is associated with improved patient survival in diffuse large B cell lymphoma and melanoma. I am a practicing dermatologist.

Cancer Focus