Research Summary

I am a dermatopathologist with a PhD in Biomedical Informatics. I maintain an active academic clinical dermatopathology practice with a specialization in the diagnosis of melanocytic tumors and lead a basic and translational research laboratory focused on the genetics and biology of melanocytic tumors and the use of molecular assessments to improve diagnosis. Our multi-disciplinary team works on identifying and characterizing novel oncogenes and tumor suppressors in melanocytic neoplasia and understanding their biology.

Education

Harvard College, AB 1994-1997, Biochemical Sciences
Stanford University Medical School, MD, PhD 1998-2006, Medicine and Biomedical Informatics
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, 2006-2007, Internship
University of Washington, 2007-2010, Dermatology Residency
University of California, San Francisco, 2010-2011, Dermatopathology Fellowship

Honors & Awards

  • 1997
    Phi Beta Kappa, Harvard College Chapter, Cambridge, MA
  • 1998
    Medical Scientist Training Program, Predoctoral Fellowship, National Institutes of Health
  • 2003
    Graduate Fellowship, National Library of Medicine
  • 2006
    Doctoral Commencement Speaker, Stanford Medical School
  • 2014
    American Cancer Society Individual Research Award
  • 2014
    Melanoma Research Alliance Career Development Award
  • 2014
    Dermatology Foundation Career Development Award
  • 2014
    Melanoma Research Foundation Mucosal Melanoma Career Development Award
  • 2020
    Stiefel Scholar Award in Skin Cancer

Selected Publications

  1. Gunesch A, Yeh I, McCalmont T, Berry E, Vanderbeek G, White KP. Hypopigmented Junctional BAP1-Inactivated Melanocytoma: A Paradigm Shift. J Cutan Pathol. 2025 Jun; 52(6):428-431.  View on PubMed
  2. Roy SF, Agim NG, Mir A, Couts KL, Vandergriff T, Robinson WA, Bastian BC, Frieden I, Yeh I. Congenital melanocytic nevi initiated by BRAF fusion oncogene with firmness, pruritus, and desmoplastic stroma. Br J Dermatol. 2025 Feb 27.  View on PubMed
  3. Tandukar B, Deivendran D, Chen L, Bahrani N, Weier B, Sharma H, Cruz-Pacheco N, Hu M, Marks K, Zitnay RG, Bandari AK, Nekoonam R, Yeh I, Judson-Torres R, Shain AH. Somatic mutations distinguish melanocyte subpopulations in human skin. bioRxiv. 2025 Feb 08.  View on PubMed
  4. Sargen MR, Barnhill RL, Elder DE, Swetter SM, Prieto VG, Ko JS, Bahrami A, Gerami P, Karunamurthy A, Pappo AS, Schuchter LM, LeBoit PE, Yeh I, Kirkwood JM, Jen M, Dunkel IJ, Durham MM, Christison-Lagay ER, Austin MT, Aldrink JH, Mehrhoff C, Hawryluk EB, Chu EY, Busam KJ, Sondak V, Messina J, Puig S, Colebatch AJ, Coughlin CC, Berrebi KG, Laetsch TW, Mitchell SG, Seynnaeve B. Evaluation and Surgical Management of Pediatric Cutaneous Melanoma and Atypical Spitz and Non-Spitz Melanocytic Tumors (Melanocytomas): A Report From Children's Oncology Group. J Clin Oncol. 2025 Mar 20; 43(9):1157-1167.  View on PubMed
  5. Wang M, Fukushima S, Sheen YS, Ramelyte E, Cruz-Pacheco N, Shi C, Liu S, Banik I, Aquino JD, Sangueza Acosta M, Levesque M, Dummer R, Liau JY, Chu CY, Shain AH, Yeh I, Bastian BC. The genetic evolution of acral melanoma. Nat Commun. 2024 Jul 21; 15(1):6146.  View on PubMed
  6. Gerami P, Tandukar B, Deivendran D, Olivares S, Chen L, Tang J, Tan T, Sharma H, Bandari AK, Cruz-Pacheco N, Chang D, Marty A, Olshen A, Murad NF, Song J, Lee J, Yeh I, Hunter Shain A. Molecular effects of indoor tanning. bioRxiv. 2024 Jun 05.  View on PubMed
  7. Goutas D, Hayenne P, Tirode F, Pissaloux D, Yeh I, de la Fouchardiere A. Smooth muscle hyperplasia in protein kinase C-fused blue naevi: Report of 12 cases. Histopathology. 2024 Aug; 85(2):347-352.  View on PubMed
  8. Chen A, Sharma N, Patel P, Olivares S, Bahrami A, Barnhill RL, Blokx WAM, Bosenberg M, Busam KJ, de La Fouchardière A, Duncan LM, Elder DE, Ko JS, Landman G, Lazar AJ, Lezcano C, Lowe L, Maher N, Massi D, Messina J, Mihic-Probst D, Parker DC, Redpath M, Scolyer RA, Shea CR, Spatz A, Tron V, Xu X, Yeh I, Jung Yun S, Zembowicz A, Gerami P. The Impact of Next-generation Sequencing on Interobserver Agreement and Diagnostic Accuracy of Desmoplastic Melanocytic Neoplasms. Am J Surg Pathol. 2024 Jun 01; 48(6):708-718.  View on PubMed
  9. Cloutier JM, Wang M, Vemula SS, Mirza S, Weier J, Aquino JD, McCalmont TH, LeBoit PE, Bastian BC, Yeh I. Amplification of Mutant NRAS in Melanocytic Tumors With Features of Spitz Tumors. Mod Pathol. 2024 May; 37(5):100469.  View on PubMed
  10. Lorbeer FK, Rieser G, Goel A, Wang M, Oh A, Yeh I, Bastian BC, Hockemeyer D. Distinct senescence mechanisms restrain progression of dysplastic nevi. PNAS Nexus. 2024 Feb; 3(2):pgae041.  View on PubMed
  11. Chen L, Chang D, Tandukar B, Deivendran D, Pozniak J, Cruz-Pacheco N, Cho RJ, Cheng J, Yeh I, Marine C, Bastian BC, Ji AL, Shain AH. STmut: a framework for visualizing somatic alterations in spatial transcriptomics data of cancer. Genome Biol. 2023 11 30; 24(1):273.  View on PubMed
  12. Erdmann-Pham DD, Batra SS, Turkalo TK, Durbin J, Blanchette M, Yeh I, Shain H, Bastian BC, Song YS, Rokhsar DS, Hockemeyer D. Tracing cancer evolution and heterogeneity using Hi-C. Nat Commun. 2023 11 06; 14(1):7111.  View on PubMed
  13. Wang M, Fukushima S, Sheen YS, Ramelyte E, Pacheco NC, Shi C, Liu S, Banik I, Aquino JD, Acosta MS, Levesque M, Dummer R, Liau JY, Chu CY, Shain AH, Yeh I, Bastian BC. The genetic evolution of acral melanoma. bioRxiv. 2023 Oct 19.  View on PubMed
  14. Wei AZ, Chen LN, Orloff M, Ariyan CE, Asgari M, Barker CA, Buchbinder E, Chandra S, Couts K, Frumovitz MM, Futreal A, Gershenwald JE, Hanna EY, Izar B, LeBlanc AK, Leitao MM, Lipson EJ, Liu D, McCarter M, McQuade JL, Najjar Y, Rapisuwon S, Selig S, Shoushtari AN, Yeh I, Schwartz GK, Guo J, Patel SP, Carvajal RD. Proceedings from the Melanoma Research Foundation Mucosal Melanoma Meeting (December 16, 2022, New York, USA). Pigment Cell Melanoma Res. 2023 11; 36(6):542-556.  View on PubMed
  15. Martin SB, Polubothu S, Bruzos AL, Kelly G, Horswell S, Sauvadet A, Bryant D, Zecchin D, Riachi M, Michailidis F, Sadri A, Muwanga-Nanyonjo N, Lopez-Balboa P, Knöpfel N, Bulstrode N, Pittman A, Yeh I, Kinsler VA. Mosaic BRAF Fusions Are a Recurrent Cause of Congenital Melanocytic Nevi Targetable by MAPK Pathway Inhibition. J Invest Dermatol. 2024 03; 144(3):593-600.e7.  View on PubMed
  16. Perkins IU, Tan SY, McCalmont TH, Chou PM, Mully TW, Gerami P, Pomerantz JH, Reyes-Múgica M, Balkin DM, Kruse LL, Huang B, Reichek JL, Gangopadhyay N, Chiosea S, Green JR, Chamlin SL, Frieden IJ, Bastian BC, Yeh I. Melanoma in infants, caused by a gene fusion involving the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). Pigment Cell Melanoma Res. 2024 01; 37(1):6-14.  View on PubMed
  17. de la Fouchardière A, Pissaloux D, Houlier A, Paindavoine S, Tirode F, LeBoit PE, Bastian BC, Yeh I. Histologic and Genetic Features of 51 Melanocytic Neoplasms With Protein Kinase C Fusion Genes. Mod Pathol. 2023 Nov; 36(11):100286.  View on PubMed
  18. Lorbeer FK, Rieser G, Goel A, Wang M, Oh A, Yeh I, Bastian BC, Hockemeyer D. Distinct senescence mechanisms restrain progression of dysplastic nevi. bioRxiv. 2023 Jul 16.  View on PubMed
  19. Roy SF, Milante R, Pissaloux D, Tirode F, Bastian BC, Fouchardière A, Yeh I. Spectrum of Melanocytic Tumors Harboring BRAF Gene Fusions: 58 Cases With Histomorphologic and Genetic Correlations. Mod Pathol. 2023 06; 36(6):100149.  View on PubMed
  20. Lezcano C, Berwick M, Luo L, Barnhill R, Duncan LM, Gerami P, Lowe L, Messina JL, Scolyer RA, Wood B, Yeh I, Zembowicz A, Busam KJ. Interobserver agreement in the histopathological classification of desmoplastic melanomas. Pathology. 2023 Mar; 55(2):223-226.  View on PubMed

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