American Skin Association Medical Advisory Committee Names New Co-Chair

American Skin Association (ASA) named current member Robert Modlin, MD as Co-Chair of its Medical Advisory Committee (MAC) alongside Dr. David Norris. Dr. Modlin is Chief of the Division of Dermatology and Professor of Dermatology in the Department of Medicine and Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Modlin's lab is interested in the immunology of microbial infection. Infectious disease poses a major health problem worldwide.

ASA also announced Angela Christiano, PhD, Associate Professor of Molecular Dermatology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York to its MAC. Dr. Christiano's major focus of research is the study of inherited skin and hair disorders in humans. She has initiated a comprehensive program of cellular transplantation and reprogramming that holds great promise toward advancing the feasibility of successfully treating a broad spectrum of disorders of the skin, as well as providing a source of easily accessible multipotent adult stem cells to regenerate other organs.

"I welcome Dr. Christiano to the Medical Advisory Committee. Dr. Christiano is a wonderful addition to our committee which oversees the annual grant review and award process. I look forward to working with her and to leading the Committee with our new Co-Chair Dr. Modlin," said Dr. David Norris, Co-Chair of ASA's Medical Advisory Committee.

Howard P. Milstein, Chairman of ASA's Board of Directors, stated, "Dr. Modlin has demonstrated his expertise as a Medical Advisory Committee member and brings leadership to the Committee as Co-Chair with Dr. Norris. I would like to also welcome our new Committee member Dr. Christiano, whose affluent research experience in genetic therapies for skin and hair diseases will complement the Medical Advisory Committee during our grant review process."

ASA's Medical Advisory Committee, composed of leading physicians and scientists, conducts the annual grant review and award process. Under its aegis, the program has supported the work of more than 200 investigators, ranging from gifted young researchers in the earliest phases of their careers to acknowledged leaders in the field. The program also supports medical students committing themselves to the study of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer.

Since its inception in 1996, ASA funding for grants has grown annually from $100,000 to $2 million. Overall, ASA has committed over $15 million to advance dermatological research. Grants are concentrated in various areas – melanoma, non-melanoma skin cancer, psoriasis and inflammatory diseases, vitiligo and pigment cell disorders, and childhood skin diseases. Although recipients have pursued investigations in subjects ranging from acne to stem cell replacement, many have chosen to focus on melanoma – the most fatal of all skin diseases.

ASA has also provided highly significant special research awards to established investigators studying melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer. ASA has promoted the early careers of many talented young investigators, and has had a profound positive impact on both dermatology research and clinical care of dermatologic disease.