People
Sancy Leachman, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, OHSU Department of Dermatology
John D. Gray Endowed Chair in Melanoma Research, Knight Cancer Institute
Dr. Leachman is a dermatologist using basic science research and state-of-the-art technology to combat skin cancer. Dr. Leachman's research program is highly collaborative. She and her group members work with large, diverse and cross-disciplinary teams on convergent projects that range from public and population health to basic and translational science. Dr. Leachman’s ability to recruit, sample and investigate tissues derived from well-characterized research subjects in a streamlined and integrated fashion fuels her research program.
When not working, Leachman spends time with her husband and two children in outdoor pursuits including hiking, skiing, backpacking and exploring the Pacific Northwest.
Pamela Cassidy, Ph.D.
Research Associate Professor, OHSU Department of Dermatology
Dr. Cassidy is a medicinal chemist interested in identifying and applying agents that could alleviate the mutagenic effects of UV-induced oxidative stress in order to prevent melanoma. Her group’s ultimate goal is to offer patients a personalized program for melanoma prevention.
Dr. Cassidy is an avid fisherwoman.
Project Teams
Melanoma Genetics
Professor, University of Cincinatti
Dr. Abdel-Malek's research is focused on investigating the function of the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R), its agonists α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH) and ACTH, and antagonists agouti signaling protein and human β-defensin 3 in regulating cutaneous pigmentation and the response to UV radiation. Her lab was among the first to demonstrate that human melanocytes express functional MC1R and that activation of this receptor is critical for the melanogenic (i.e. tanning response) to UV.
Assistant Professor, OHSU Department of Dermatology
Director, Multidisciplinary Pigmented Lesion Clinic
Dr. Berry has dedicated her career to treating patients with melanoma and those who are at high risk for the disease. She chose the field of dermatology because she believes that early detection of skin cancer is the best chance for a cure. Along with seeing patients, Dr. Berry has research interests in better understanding genetic risk factors for melanoma and future technologies that will better allow clinicians to identify skin cancers.
Professor and Chair , OHSU Dermatology
Director, Melanoma Program, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute
Dr. Leachman’s research interest is in the prevention, early detection and chemoprevention of melanoma, particularly in genetically predisposed melanoma families. One arm of her research program examines the role of genetic predisposition and differential gene expression in the development of melanoma, with an emphasis on familial melanoma and other cutaneous cancer syndromes. Through collaborations with Dr. Cassidy, she seeks to develop agents that will serve as diagnostic tools, prognostic indicators or targeted agents for the prevention of melanoma.
Associate Professor, The University of Queensland, AU
Dr. Rick Sturm is group leader for Molecular Genetics of Pigmentation research at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland in Australia. His team's work on human pigmentation genetics has allowed understanding of normal variation in this physical trait and the associated genotypic risk for skin cancer. The genes that determine an individual's skin phototype and the cellular mechanisms that result in the tanning response of melanocytes after UV-exposure of the skin are actively being investigated.
Assistant Professor, University of Utah
Dr. Wu's ongoing research studies include testing new behavioral interventions to promote implementation of cancer prevention behaviors among children and their families, particularly to prevent skin cancer. The goal of this work is to support youths and their families in understanding their risk for cancer or other undesired health outcomes and in carrying out behaviors that will promote their health.
The Utah Population Database (UPDB) at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah is one of the world’s richest sources of in-depth information that supports research on genetics, epidemiology, demography, and public health. Since the mid 1970s, researchers at the University of Utah and other institutions have used UPDB to identify and study individuals and families that have higher than normal incidence of cancer or other diseases, to analyze patterns of genetic inheritance, and to identify specific genetic mutations. In addition, demographic studies have shown trends in fertility transition and changes in mortality patterns for both infants and adults.
Our genetics and molecular pathology laboratories were merged into one laboratory operation under the Knight Cancer Institute in January 2011. Specializing in oncology, rare genetic disorders, and infectious disease, the laboratories are CLIA certified and CAP accredited. Our Medical Directors and seasoned technical staff have many years of experience in clinical testing and test development and are dedicated to providing the best quality service for physicians and their patients.
Through our close partnership with the Knight BioLibrary and Histopathology Shared Resource Laboratories, research investigators can gain access to human biological specimens, histology, and immunohistochemistry services.
Melanoma Chemoprevention
Research Associate Professor, OHSU Department of Dermatology
Dr. Cassidy is a medicinal chemist interested in identifying and applying agents that could alleviate the mutagenic effects of UV-induced oxidative stress in order to prevent melanoma. Her group’s ultimate goal is to offer patients a personalized program for melanoma prevention.
Dr. Cassidy is an avid fisherwoman.
Dr. Sancy Leachman’s research examines the role of genetic predisposition and differential gene expression in the development of melanoma, with an emphasis on the familial melanoma syndrome. She is interested in prevention, early detection, and chemoprevention of melanoma, particularly in genetically predisposed melanoma families. Through her investigations, she is seeking to develop agents that will serve as diagnostic tools, prognostic indicators, or targeted agents for the prevention of melanoma.
Research Associate, OHSU Dermatology
Gail Kent is a Senior Research Assistant in the Leachman-Cassidy lab at OHSU. She helps coordinate and implement day-to-day research operations.
Melanoma Tissue Bank Consortium
The Melanoma Tissue Bank Consortium aims to collect more than 500 fresh-frozen primary melanoma tissue samples, additional biospecimens (blood, urine, etc.) and corresponding patient data in order to support melanoma research. These well-annotated samples, which will be available to researchers anywhere in the world, will help to answer critical research questions related to melanoma epidemiology, etiology, and treatment.
The AIM at Melanoma Foundation funds this effort AIM has brought together six esteemed institutions and researchers to establish the world’s first collaborative melanoma tissue bank consortium.
Research Associate Professor, OHSU Department of Dermatology
Dr. Cassidy is a medicinal chemist interested in identifying and applying agents that could alleviate the mutagenic effects of UV-induced oxidative stress in order to prevent melanoma. Her group’s ultimate goal is to offer patients a personalized program for melanoma prevention.
Dr. Cassidy helps lead the OHSU Department of Dermatology's contribution to the groundbreaking Melanoma Tissue Bank Consortium program.
Professor and Chair, OHSU Department of Dermatology
John D. Gray Endowed Chair in Melanoma Research, Knight Cancer Institute
Dr. Leachman is a dermatologist using basic science research and state-of-the-art technology to combat skin cancer. Dr. Leachman's research program is highly collaborative. She and her group members work with large, diverse and cross-disciplinary teams on convergent projects that range from public and population health to basic and translational science. Dr. Leachman’s ability to recruit, sample and investigate tissues derived from well-characterized research subjects in a streamlined and integrated fashion fuels her research program.
Dr. Leachman helps lead the OHSU Department of Dermatology's contribution to the groundbreaking Melanoma Tissue Bank Consortium program.
Senior Research Assistant, OHSU Department of Dermatology
Ryan Stadnik coordinates translational research studies in the department, including the Melanoma Tissue Bank Consortium project, and for the Knight Melanoma Program, which is directed by Dr. Leachman. He is also involved in the regulatory components of Dr. Leachman’s research and works closely with her and other investigators in the group to meet study and programmatic goals.
In his free time, Ryan likes to explore Portland’s food scene and play tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons.
Melanoma Navigator
Jessica Sullivan is the Swiss Army knife of our melanoma team. After working as Dr. Leachman and Dr. Berry’s lead clinical nurse, she transitioned into the role of our Melanoma Navigator. In this position, she is a central resource for our melanoma patients with a focus of facilitating multidisciplinary care while improving patient and provider experiences. She will also be involved in research and clinical trial opportunities including the Melanoma Tissue Bank Consortium project.
In her free time, Jessica enjoys exploring the outdoors and trying out new recipes.
Manager, Dermatopathology Lab, OHSU Dermatology
Jonathon Hetts is the manager of OHSU Dermatology's Dermatopatholgy Lab. He oversees all lab operations from day-to-day, to client management, to assisting with pathology needs for various research projects within the department, including the Melanoma Tissue Bank Consortium.
The surgical dermatologists at OHSU Dermatology and surgical oncologists in the School of Medicine's Surgery Department are key contributors to the collection of fresh-frozen tissue that will be donated to the Melanoma Tissue Bank Consortium.
Learn about OHSU Dermatology's Surgery Team.
Learn about OHSU Division of Surgical Oncology.
OHSU Dermatopathology provides expert dermatopathology services to support dermatologists, family practitioners, pathologists, obstetricians/gynecologists, plastic surgeons, and many other physicians with expert, accurate and efficient diagnosis of skin-related conditions and diseases.
Dermatopathology director, Kevin White, M.D., along with Stephanie Mengden-Koon, M.D., and Jina Chung, M.D., are board certified and fellowship trained internationally-recognized expert dermatopathologists. Our dermatopathologist are responsible for the diagnostic reading of slides that are annotated and sent to the Melanoma Tissue Bank Consortium.
Population and Public Health
Professor and Chair, OHSU Department of Dermatology
John D. Gray Endowed Chair in Melanoma Research, Knight Cancer Institute
Dr. Leachman is a dermatologist using basic science research and state-of-the-art technology to combat skin cancer. Dr. Leachman's research program is highly collaborative. She and her group members work with large, diverse and cross-disciplinary teams on convergent projects that range from public and population health to basic and translational science. Dr. Leachman’s ability to recruit, sample and investigate tissues derived from well-characterized research subjects in a streamlined and integrated fashion fuels her research program.
When not working, Leachman spends time with her husband and two children in outdoor pursuits including hiking, skiing, backpacking and exploring the Pacific Northwest.
Professor of Psychology, Lewis and Clark University
Brian Detweiler-Bedell is Associate Professor and Chair of Psychology at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. He received his B.A. and M.A. in psychology from Stanford University and his Ph.D. in social psychology from Yale University. His research examines the influence of emotion on social judgment and decision-making. Together with his wife, Brian co-directs the Behavioral Health and Social Psychology laboratory, which provides an immersive research experience to over a dozen undergraduate student collaborators each year.
Dr. Detweiler-Bedell utilizes his expertise on psychological theories for the War on Melanoma's Population and Public Health project. In general, Dr. Detweiler-Bedell and team are interested in finding the most effective communication strategy to increase melanoma awareness and affect positive behavior change with engaging in skin cancer self-skin exams. This supports the program's critical hypothesis that an increase of early detection awareness and action will decrease melanoma-related deaths at scale.
Professor of Psychology, Lewis and Clark University
Jerusha B. Detweiler-Bedell is Associate Professor of Psychology at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. She received her B.A. and M.A. in psychology from Stanford University and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Yale University. Her program of research brings together investigations of human decision-making, health psychology, and clinical psychology, with the goal of promoting health behaviors by understanding why people fail to do ‘what’s best’ for their physical and mental well-being. She co-directs the Behavioral Health and Social Psychology laboratory, where she conducts research with undergraduate student collaborators
Dr. Detweiler-Bedell utilizes her expertise on health psychology for the War on Melanoma's Population and Public Health project. In general, Dr. Detweiler-Bedell and team are interested in finding the most effective communication strategy to increase melanoma awareness and affect positive behavior change with engaging in skin cancer self-skin exams. This supports the program's critical hypothesis that an increase of early detection awareness and action will decrease melanoma-related deaths at scale.
Professor of Biostatistics, OHSU
Jodi Ann Lapidus is a professor of biostatistics and director of biostatics education at OHSU. She did her undergraduate studies at the State University of New York, graduating in 1986, and then earned a master's degree from Columbia University in 1988. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of New Mexico in 1998. In 2015, Lapidus was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.
Dr. Lapidus and team have lead the distribution and analysis of a multi-state population survey designed to understand melanoma awareness and knowledge from a selection of participants from Oregon, Washington and Utah. The results of this survey will be used to help inform the entire War on Melanoma research program on baseline melanoma awareness and identify key knowledge gaps to direct future outreach efforts.
Biostatistician, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute
Emile Latour is a biostatistician, providing comprehensive and integrated biostatistics support to basic, clinical and population science researchers conducting cancer research at OHSU. Emile provides statistical support for many melanoma program efforts, including the large scale melanoma public health survey and campaign.
Ellen Peters is the Philip H. Knight Chair and Director of the Center for Science Communication Research (SCR) in the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon. She is an academic expert in decision making and the science of science communication. Her primary research interests concern how people judge and decide, and how evidence-based communication can boost comprehension and improve decisions in health, financial, and environmental contexts. She is especially interested in the basic building blocks of human judgment and decision making—such as emotions and number abilities—and their links to effective communication techniques.
Ellen Peters joins the Population and Public Health team to provide her invaluable expertise on evidence-based communication and human decision making. Her and the team aim to find the most effective communication strategy to increase melanoma awareness and affect positive behavior change with engaging in skin cancer self-skin exams. This supports the program's critical hypothesis that an increase of early detection awareness and action will decrease melanoma-related deaths at scale.
Assistant Professor, Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon
Autumn Shafer, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communication. Her research seeks to address important social, theoretical, and practical issues related to public health promotion and social issues advocacy. Her research has included grant-funded projects examining the effects of entertainment education on teen pregnancy, developing a sexual consent awareness campaign, encouraging parents of children with eating disorders to take care of themselves to prevent caregiver fatigue, and cervical cancer prevention through the promotion of HPV vaccines.
Autumn Shafer joins the Population and Public Health team to provide her expertise in public health promotion and strategic campaign management. Her and the team aim to find the most effective communication strategy to increase melanoma awareness and affect positive behavior change with engaging in skin cancer self-skin exams. This supports the program's critical hypothesis that an increase of early detection awareness and action will decrease melanoma-related deaths at scale.
Research Assistant Professor, Ohio State University
Brittany Shoots-Reinhard is interested in decision making and attitudes and persuasion. One area of her research investigates how perceived and actual numeric ability influences decisions and motivation to ultimately improve academic, healthy, and financial outcomes. A second area involves evidence-based communication, and how factors such as emotion, message resistance, and numeric ability facilitate or inhibit persuasion and behavior change. She has explored these factors in topics such as tobacco use and safe driving.
Brittany joins the Population and Public Health team to provide expertise in evidence-based communications and to assist with the setup and administration of research experiements.
Associate Director, OHSU Department of Dermatology
Elizabeth Stoos has over 12 years of experience as an educator and program manager. Ms. Stoos manages the design, development, implementation and analysis of statewide melanoma education campaigns for medical professionals and lay audiences as part of Dr. Leachman’s public health outreach and research. Ms. Stoos also manages the department’s philanthropy funding portfolio and is directing the development of two new initiatives in the department, the Skin Imaging Center and the Center for Excellence in Eczema.
MoleMapper™ iPhone App
Product Manager, Mole Mapper Phone App, OHSU Department of Dermatology
Tracie Petrie, Ph.D. is a product manager representing Oregon Health & Science University's interests in the Mole Mapper family of apps. Working with partners, he seeks to create tools to let people contribute important data to a variety of research efforts while supplementing their own health care management.
Tracie is keenly interested in computer vision, machine learning, and medical imaging. He has a self proclaimed love affair with all the sciences and feels fortunate to be playing with physics and biology as well at OHSU. He's passionate about Software Engineering as a means of developing software that is focused on delighting the users of the software, as well as solving tough problems.
Senior Research Associate, OHSU Department of Dermatology
Ravikant (Ravi) Samatham is a biomedical engineer, specializing in biomedical optics such as reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM), multi-spectral imaging and polarizing images of skin cancer.
Ravi collaborates across many melanoma program teams and projects, as well as helping to oversee MoleMapper app operations.
Education and Implementation Science
Associate Director, OHSU Department of Dermatology
Elizabeth Stoos has over 12 years of experience as an educator and program manager. Ms. Stoos manages the design, development, implementation and analysis of statewide melanoma education campaigns for medical professionals and lay audiences as part of Dr. Leachman’s public health outreach and research.
Assistant Professor, OHSU Department of Dermatology
Director, Multidisciplinary Pigmented Lesion Clinic
Dr. Berry has dedicated her career to treating patients with melanoma and those who are at high risk for the disease. She chose the field of dermatology because she believes that early detection of skin cancer is the best chance for a cure. Along with seeing patients, Dr. Berry has research interests in better understanding genetic risk factors for melanoma and future technologies that will better allow clinicians to identify skin cancers.
Dr. Berry is a critical content expert for the creation and implementation of the skin cancer education curricula.
Professor of Family Medicine, OHSU
Deborah Cohen, Ph.D., has been developing her skills in qualitative methods for more than 20 years, and has spent more than a decade studying primary care practices, with a focus on clinician-patient communication, practice change and improvement and health information technology use.
Professor Cohen has been instrumental in the development and implementation of the skin cancer curriculum geared towards primarily care providers.
Professor and Chair, OHSU Department of Dermatology
John D. Gray Endowed Chair in Melanoma Research, Knight Cancer Institute
Dr. Leachman is a dermatologist using basic science research and state-of-the-art technology to combat skin cancer. Dr. Leachman's research program is highly collaborative. She and her group members work with large, diverse and cross-disciplinary teams on convergent projects that range from public and population health to basic and translational science.
Dr. Leachman is a key content expert in the creation of all of the skin cancer curricula.
Assistant Professor, OHSU Dermatology
Kim Sanders P.A.-C., is a general medical dermatology specialist, covering a broad range of dermatologic conditions including skin cancer screening, acne, unusual growths and rashes, basic surgical excisions/closures and more.
Kim Sanders P.A.-C., is a key content reviewer and has worked to help implement the skin cancer curriculum designed for non-dermatology medical providers.
Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, OHSU
Dr. Alex Verdieck is a family physician. She chose family medicine because it allowed her to provide medical care in all of the fields that interest her including women’s health, sports medicine, and preventative care. She returned to OHSU in 2009 to continue her clinical practice and resume her teaching interests.
Dr. Verdieck supports skin cancer education curriculum development and implementation for non-dermatology medical providers.
The driving force behind the High School Outreach and Educational Curriculum is a group of dermatology-interested medical students and trainees at OHSU. This team has successfully overseen the creation and initial stages of implementation of this educational curriculum to schools in Oregon. In addition to their initial in-class teaching curriculum, they have also created an asynchronous online version of the same curriculum to provide teachers who may be dealing with issues due to COVID-19 the ability to deliver the education virtually.
Victoria Orfaly, M.D, Medical Student Team Lead
Carter Haag, M.D., OHSU Dermatology Resident, Melanoma Research Alliance Fellow
Confocal Microscopy - Digital Imaging
Assistant Professor, OHSU Department of Dermatology
Co-director, Skin Cancer Imaging Center
Dr. Joanna Ludzik is a medical dermatologist specializing in the early detection of skin cancers and melanoma, digital health/teledermatology and cosmetic dermatology (cosmetic injectables, thread lifting, lasers and PRP).
Dr. Ludzik completed her medical training and residency in Europe as well as her Ph.D. focused on implementing telemedicine and virtual biopsies with reflectance confocal microscopy in clinical practice.
Assistant Professor, OHSU Department of Dermatology
Co-director, Skin Cancer Imaging Center
Dr. Alexander Witkowski is a medical dermatologist specializing in the early detection of skin cancers (particularly melanoma), eczema, seborrheic dermatitis and acne.
Dr. Witkowski completed his medical training and residency in Europe as well as his Ph.D. in Modena (Italy), focused on implementing virtual biopsies with reflectance confocal microscopy and its application to diagnosing melanoma subtypes at the patient bedside.
Outside of work, Dr. Witkowski enjoys international travel, bicycling, rollerblading, and motorcycles.