Melanoma in Clinical Practice

Debjani Sahni, MD is the G. Robert Baler Endowed Professor and Director of the multi-disciplinary Cutaneous Oncology Program at Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center. She completed her medical school training at the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals in London, UK. After acquiring her Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP), she completed dermatology residency at the St John’s Institute of Dermatology in London. She subsequently undertook a cutaneous oncology fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston. Dr. Sahni specializes in the medical management of cutaneous oncology including cutaneous lymphomas, metastatic melanoma and high-risk non-melanoma skin cancers, and serves as the director of the Cutaneous Oncology Fellowship Program at Boston Medical Center.  She also serves as the director of the unique and highly respected InternationalGraduate Program in Dermatology (IGPD) at Boston University. First established in 1988, the IGPD offers international postgraduate doctors the opportunity to train in dermatology, utilizing state-of-the-art facilities and therapies available in the US. Her academic interests include teaching and mentoring for which she is the recipient of several teaching awards and an external examiner for dermatology board exams internationally. Dr. Sahni is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology and International Society of Cutaneous Lymphomas. Dr. Sahni’s clinical research interests focus on the epidemiology and treatment of skin cancers and she is the author of multiple scientific papers.Rhoda M. Alani, MD is the Herbert Mescon Endowed Professor and Chair of Dermatology at Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center. She received her MD degree with Honors and Distinction in Research from the University of Michigan and completed her internshipin internal medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital and a residency in dermatology at Harvard Medical School followed by postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. From 1999-2009 Dr. Alani was the Director of the Laboratory of Cutaneous Oncology and Director of the Melanoma and Pigmented Lesion Clinics in Dermatology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Alani’s research focus is in understanding the molecular basis of melanoma development and progression with the aim of translating her laboratory findings to improve the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment of melanoma. Current research in the Alani Laboratory focuses on understanding the epigenetic basis for melanoma development and progression, and has been supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Melanoma Research Alliance. Dr. Alani is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Societies, the American Academy of Dermatology, the Societyfor Investigative Dermatology, the Society for Melanoma Research, and the American Association for Cancer Research. She was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2005 and to the American Dermatological Association in 2011. Dr. Alani is the author of numerous scientific publications and is the owner of several US patents related to melanoma biomarkers, novel melanoma therapies, and imaging systems for improved melanoma detection.

• Melanoma Prevention.- Epidemiology of Melanoma.- Pathogenesis of Melanoma.- The Histopathology of Melanocytic Nevi and Malignant Melanoma.- Aids to Detecting Melanoma.- Evolution of Melanoma: Staging.- Lentigo Maligna Melanoma.- Surgical Treatment of Primary Melanoma.- Evolution of Neoadjuvant Therapy in Melanoma.- Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy and Nodal Surgery.- Adjuvant systemic therapy for stage III melanoma.- Adjuvant Radiation Therapy for Stage III Melanoma.- Systemic Therapy of Advanced Melanoma.- Radiation therapy in advanced melanoma.- Novel Therapies in Melanoma.- Predictive Biomarkers of Melanoma.- Acral Melanoma.- Mucosal Melanoma.- Melanoma in Pediatric Patients.- Melanoma in Ethnic Skin.- Melanoma in Pregnancy.