David Cassarino (USA)

Dr. Cassarino performed his medical school and doctorate training at the University of Virginia, where he completed a combined M.D./Ph.D. (Neuroscience) program in 6 years.  His Anatomic Pathology residency training was done at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD.  He went on to complete a Dermatopathology Fellowship at the University of California, Irvine, under Dr. Ronald Barr, and then worked as an attending physician at Stanford University for 3 years before moving to UCLA, where he was an Assistant and Associate Professor of pathology for 2 ½ years.  He joined the Southern California Permanente Medical Group in Los Angeles as a Consultant Dermatopathologist in 2009.  He continues to teach and engage in clinical-pathological research, having published numerous papers and books/book chapters on cutaneous pathology, especially in the realm of cutaneous neoplasia.  He is also actively engaged in the teaching of medical students and Dermatology residents, and gives lectures on Dermatopathology at many national meetings.

Patrick Emanuel (Peru)

Patrick Emanuel is the Director of Dermatopathology at the Clinica Ricardo Palma in Lima, Peru. He also consults for IGENZ molecular laboratory, Pathlab Bay of Plenty, and the Skin Institute (all based in New Zealand). He is an Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Auckland and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Icahn Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. Patrick’s academic interests include cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, margin control surgery, and the application of molecular techniques to cutaneous tumours. He is a keen violinist, surfer and mountaineer.

Akhtar Husain (UK)

MBBS, DCP, FRCPath , UK
Dr Akhtar Husain is a consultant Dermatopathology and Lead Dermatopathologist in Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Foundation Trust. He received his MBBS degree from Dow University of Health Sciences in Karachi in 1983. He had done his pathology and dermatopathology training in Dublin, Glasgow and Aberdeen UK. He is working as a consultant Dermatopathologist for over 16 years. He is also running a fellowship program in Dermatopathology.

Dr Akhtar Husain’s interests include pigmented melanocytic lesions and skin tumours. His research interest are mainly skin tumours, including genetic abnormalities associated with adnexal tumours. He is a speaker in Glasgow Dermatopathology course and presented in national and international meetings.

Robert Phelps (USA)

Dr. Robert Phelps is Professor of Dermatology and Pathology and Director of the Dermatopathology Service at Mount Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Phelps is extensively involved in the teaching of medical students, residents, fellows and faculty and he has been with Mount Sinai since 1986. His research interests include experimental models of skin disease, cutaneous oncology, and environmental skin disease. Dr. Phelps is an avid reader and also enjoys outdoor activities.

Richard Scolyer (Aus)

Professor Richard Scolyer BMedSci, MBBS, MD, FRCPA, FRCPath FAHMS is Senior Staff Specialist, Tissue Pathology and Diagnostic Oncology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney; Co- Medical Director, Melanoma Institute Australia; and Clinical Professor, The University of Sydney. He provides a clinical consultation service for the diagnosis of difficult pigmented lesions and receives more 2000 cases for opinion from Australasia and beyond annually. Richard effectively integrates his clinical practice with leading an award winning translational melanoma research laboratory. His record includes co-authoring more than 700 publications/book-chapters including in prestigious journals such as New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Nature, Cell, Nature Genetics, Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Journal of the National Cancer Institute and Cancer Discovery with >37,800 citations. Richard has presented on more than 350 occasions at conferences throughout the world. He received a NSW Premier’s Award for Outstanding Cancer Research in 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018, Thomson Reuters 2015 Citation Award in the Clinical Medicine category, the 2018 William O. Russell/Joanne Vandenberge Hill Award for Lifetime Achievement in Anatomical Pathology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Research Australia’s 2018 GSK Award for Research Excellence, the 2019 American Society of Dermatopathology’s Elson B Helwig Award for excellence in dermatopathology and The University of Sydney’s 2020 International Alumni Award. His publications have received most highly cited awards on 5 other occasions. Recently, Richard was recognised as a Clarivate Web of Science “Highly Cited Researcher 2019”. According to Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Knowledge, Richard is the highest ever published scientist in the world in the field of melanoma pathology and he also has the highest H index in this field. The Fame Report (2011) published by Medical Experts International (www.medexpert.com) ranked him the 6th leading melanoma expert in any field or discipline worldwide and the highest ranked melanoma pathologist worldwide. In February 2019, he was ranked the world’s 10th leading melanoma expert in any field or discipline and the world’s leading melanoma pathologist (http://expertscape.com/ex/melanoma).  In September 2019, Richard was ranked as the leading Australian Pathologist in the entire field of Pathology (www.leagueofscholars.com).

Richard was an editor of the 4th Edition of the World Health Organisation Classification of Tumours Skin Tumours volume in which he was the responsible editor for 3 of the 6 sections and authored/co-authored more than 30 chapters. He has also been an invited contributing author to 6 other volumes of the WHO Classification of Tumours including for Soft Tissue and Bone, Digestive System, Thoracic, Female Genital Tract and Paediatric tumours. He is also Vice Chair of the Melanoma Expert Panel of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) for the 8th edition of AJCC Cancer Staging System, co-leads the Australian Melanoma Genome Project (part of the International Cancer Genome Consortium), was lead pathologist for the NIH funded The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Melanoma Project (Cell, 2015), chairs the Melanoma Expert Panel for the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting, and lead pathologist/member of the overseeing Management Committee, Multidisciplinary Working Party and Author for the Australian Melanoma Clinical Practice Guidelines and co-lead author of the College of American Pathologists Melanoma Reporting protocol. He is also an editorial board member of the American Journal of Surgical Pathology, Modern Pathology and Histopathology and several other international journals and Senior Associate Editor of Pathology. Richard is a Past President of the Australasian Division of the International Academy of Pathology and is the current International Vice President representing Australasian on the International Academy of Pathology International Council. In 2019, Richard was the RCPA visting Professor/Lecturer to Asia. Together with other MIA colleagues, Richard has been chief investigator on 3 consecutive 5 year NHMRC program grants and has received multiple personal Fellowships from the NHMRC and CINSW.  He has also been an investigator/advisor on multiple phase 1, 2 and 3 clinical trials and a frequently sort-after advisor to industry.

Michael Tetzlaff (USA)

Michael Tetzlaff is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Pathology (Section of Dermatopathology) and Translational and Molecular Pathology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.  He also serves as the Executive Officer for the Translational Research Program for The Alliance for Clinical Trials and is a group leader from MD Anderson within the NCI multidisciplinary Cancer Immune Monitoring and Analysis Centers (CIMAC).  Dr. Tetzlaff received his undergraduate degree from The University of Texas at Austin in the Plan II Honors Program.  He studied Developmental Biology and Genetics for two years at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany. Dr. Tetzlaff then earned his combined MD and PhD degrees in the Medical Scientist Training Program at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.  His PhD training came in the laboratory of Dr. Stephen J. Elledge.

Dr. Tetzlaff then completed his residency in Anatomic Pathology in the Department of Pathology where he served as Chief Resident, and after this, he completed his fellowship in Dermatopathology in the Department of Dermatology at The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA.  Following his training, Dr. Tetzlaff joined the faculty at MD Anderson in 2010.

He currently serves as Associate Editor for Human Pathology and additionally serves on the Editorial Boards for The Journal of Cutaneous Pathology, The American Journal of Clinical Pathology and Applied Immunohistochemistry and Molecular Morphology.  He is an author of over 150 published peer reviewed manuscripts and 5 book chapters.

Curtis Thompson (USA)