Melanoma Advisory Board

DermTech is committed to bringing to the market a molecular diagnostic assay for the non-invasive detection of melanoma. To that end, the company has formed a Melanoma Advisory Committee consisting of the following international thought-leaders

Boris Bastian, MD

Dr. Boris Bastian is Chair of the Department of Pathology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.  Previously he was Associate Professor in the Departments of Dermatology and Pathology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Prior to completing a postdoctoral fellowship in the Cancer Genetics Program of the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dr. Bastian was an attending physician at the Department of Dermatology at the University of Würzburg, Germany, where he completed his dermatology residency. Dr. Bastian received his medical training from the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany where he completed his thesis in 1989, and did a post-doctoral fellowship in hematology. He joined UCSF in 1999.

Dr. Bastian's research interest is focused on the molecular genetics of melanocytic neoplasms with a particular focus on the discovery on genetic alterations useful for diagnosis, classification, and therapy. Dr. Bastian has authored more than 80 scientific publications and has received several awards for his research.

Allan C. Halpern, MD

Dr. Halpern is Chief of Dermatology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and co-leader of the Center’s Melanoma Disease Management Team, which incorporates the expertise of doctors in surgery, medical oncology, clinical immunology, dermatology, pathology, and radiation oncology to diagnose and treat melanoma. He is a board-certified internist and dermatologist. Dr. Halpern pioneered the use of digital whole-body photography to assist in the detection of changing moles in patients with dysplastic nevi. Currently, his research is focused on epidemiologic (population-based) studies with a subset looking at the genetic and environmental factors that influence the development of moles in children and adolescents. Dr. Halpern received his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and completed his Dermatology residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He has presented and published extensively.

Scott Menzies, MD, PhD

Scott Menzies, M.B. B.S., Ph.D., is Director of the Sydney Melanoma Diagnostic Centre and a Professor in the Discipline of Dermatology, University of Sydney , Australia. He has a strong research background in the development of diagnostic technologies for primary melanoma. He has been, or is currently, a member of 10 skin cancer advisory committees including the team which developed the Australian Guidelines for the Management of Cutaneous Melanoma. Dr. Menzies completed both his M.B. B.S. and Ph.D. at the University of Sydney. He has authored and co-authored 3 books, 16 book chapters and 53 journal articles most of which have related to the detection and treatment of melanoma.

David Polsky, MD, PhD

Dr. David Polsky is currently an Assistant Professor in the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology at NYU School of Medicine. He serves as Director of Residency Training, Director of the Melanoma/Skin Cancer Screening Program conducted in conjunction with the American Academy of Dermatology, and Associate Director of the Pigmented Lesion Clinic, which provides care for melanoma patients and others at high risk for developing melanoma. Dr. Polsky also served as co-Chair of the Research and Development Committee of the Manhattan Veterans Administration Medical Center during his three-year appointment to that committee. Dr. Polsky is a leading member of the NYU Interdisciplinary Melanoma Cooperative Group and the Department of Dermatology Cutaneous Biology Program. Dr. Polsky's research lab is focused primarily on the study of growth control pathways in melanoma, utilizing human tumor and blood specimens as well as human melanoma cell lines to identify molecular pathogenic factors that correlate with patient disease outcomes. The overall goal of the research program is to translate these findings into new therapeutic and prognostic strategies. Dr. Polsky has co-authored numerous articles and book chapters in journals such as Nature, Genes and Development, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Cancer Research and JAMA. Dr. Polsky received his BA from Bucknell University and his MD and PhD degrees from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.