Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Reinvigorating Immune Response To Advanced Melanoma

Thomas Jefferson University Research Magazine

Melanoma represents a small fraction of skin cancerrelated malignancies, yet accounts for the majority of its mortalities—and the incidence of cutaneous melanoma is rising. While treatments using smalltargeted inhibitors and immune checkpoint antibodies have increased long-term survival in advancedstage cutaneous melanoma, many patients still do not realize any benefit from the treatments. Another group of patients initially have beneficial results but ultimately find their disease progressing, in part due to cancer cells’ acquired resistance to immune response. And still other patients have difficulty with the treatment’s high toxicity.

Emad Alnemri, PhD, Thomas Eakins Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and …

Striving To Understand Disparities In Cancer Care

Thomas Jefferson University Research Magazine

A key element of the mission of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center–Jefferson Health—and an objective of many researchers across the University—is to understand and mitigate the disparities in cancer incidence, treatment and outcome too often experienced by patients who are African American or Latinx, have low incomes or have limited access to care.

In the Philadelphia region, for example, prostate cancer incidence and mortality rates are significantly higher for African Americans than Caucasians, but the causes of this major disparity are unknown. Many researchers have believed that the difference in outcomes results from African American men’s poor clinical response to …

A Distinguished Career Honored - And The Work Continues

Thomas Jefferson University Research Magazine

The most prestigious award in international dermatology - the World Congress of Dermatology’s Alfred Marchionini Medal in Gold—is bestowed every four years, and in 2019, Jouni Uitto, MD, professor and chair of dermatology and cutaneous biology, was the humble recipient. The award is a recognition of Dr. Uitto’s long and distinguished career, in which he has published nearly 900 peerreviewed articles, textbook chapters and reviews— including 30 new publications over the past year.

A Career Advancing Midwifery

Thomas Jefferson University Research Magazine

The year 2019 was a significant one—even for a clinician-researcher as accomplished as Barbara Hackley, PhD, CNM, associate professor of midwifery and women’s health and the Dorothea Lang Term Chair. Prior to joining Jefferson in 2017 to launch and direct the Jefferson Doctor of Midwifery Program— the nation’s first discipline-specific doctoral program for midwifery—Dr. Hackley served on the faculties of Georgetown, Columbia and Yale universities. And, during a career that has, thus far, spanned three decades, she received countless awards for her teaching and research—and for her clinical expertise in expanding mental health care, immunization, asthma care and obesity management …