Research Abstract
The Fisher laboratory focuses on mechanistic studies which underlie the biology and pathophysiology of skin and melanoma. Research studies range from molecular analyses of pigment cell biology to risk factors responsible for the formation of melanoma and other skin cancers. The laboratory utilizes deep molecular tools to understand how genes are regulated, how they contribute to cancer formation, and how they may be successfully targeted by drugs in order to improve disease treatments or to prevent disease formation altogether. Several areas of particular focus include 1) the study of redhair, fair skinned pigmentation and the manner in which such individuals are at increased risk for skin cancer; 2) identification and analysis of oncogenes which control melanoma cell survival; 3) discovery of new drugs that affect pigmentation, melanoma survival, and other skin-related effects; and 4) examination of the ways in which a gene called MITF plays a master-regulatory role in specifying the development of pigment-producing cells in the body.