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Melanoma Research Alliance Names Suzanne Topalian, M.D., Chief Science Officer
Washington, DC, September 9, 2009 – The Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA) today named Suzanne L. Topalian, M.D., respected leader in oncology research, as its Chief Science Officer. MRA is focused on finding and funding the most promising melanoma research worldwide that will accelerate progress toward a cure.
Dr. Topalian chaired the MRA’s grant review committee and helped the organization identify and support research programs that will translate into the best options for patients – in prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. In its second year of grantmaking, the MRA is supporting 37 of the most promising melanoma research programs worldwide, with funds totaling more than $16 million.
“Dr. Topalian’s leadership and expertise in melanoma research has guided the work of the MRA since its inception. Now with Dr. Topalian at the helm of all our scientific efforts, MRA can further expand melanoma research and save lives,” said Debra Black, co-founder and Chair of the MRA Board of Directors.
Dr. Topalian has published over 100 original research articles and reviews on cancer immunology, and is internationally recognized for this work. Her basic studies of human anti-tumor immune responses have provided a foundation for the translational development of immunotherapies for melanoma and other cancers, including cancer vaccines, adoptive T cell transfer, and immunomodulatory monoclonal antibodies.
“MRA has infused great energy and enthusiasm into the melanoma research community by supporting innovative advances in the biology and treatment of melanoma,” said Dr. Topalian. “I am pleased to join such an esteemed organization and committed to cultivating the melanoma research momentum that MRA has commenced.”
Dr. Topalian is also Professor of Surgery and Oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Director of the Melanoma Program at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. She is a physician-scientist credentialed in general surgery, with specialty training in surgical oncology and cancer immunology. After a 21-year tenure in the Surgery Branch of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, she joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in June 2006, to lead the newly-established Melanoma Program in the Kimmel Cancer Center.
She received her medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts and completed her residency in general surgery at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She also completed a Research Fellowship in the Department of Surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a Surgical Oncology Fellowship in the Surgery Branch at the National Cancer Institute. She now serves on the Scientific Program Committee for the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research and was a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Melanoma Program Committee 2007-2009.
About the Melanoma Research Alliance: The Melanoma Research Alliance is a public charity formed under the auspices of the Milken Institute, with the initial generous founding support of Debra and Leon Black. It supports an international, cross-disciplinary group of biomedical researchers possessing clinical and scientific expertise to explore, identify, and pursue innovative solutions to critical research issues leading to better treatments and a cure for patients with melanoma. For more information, please visit: www.melanomaresearchalliance.org.