Cláudia M. Salgado, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Pathology, Division of Pediatric Pathology

Dr. Salgado is a member of the Division of Pediatric Pathology.

Clinical Expertise

Pediatric renal pathology, congenital melanocytic proliferations and pediatric soft tissue tumors

Education & Training
MD - School of Medicine, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Brazil, 1992
Residency in Pediatrics - Federal University of São Paulo/UNIFESP, Brazil
Fellowship in Pediatric Nephrology - UNIFESP, Brazil
Masters in Pediatrics - UNIFESP and PhD in Health Sciences, University of Brasilia, Brazil
Postdoctoral Fellow - Department of Developmental Biology, University of Pittsburgh, 2011-2012
Residency in Pathology - University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 2016-2019
Fellowship in Pediatric Pathology - UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2019-2020
Research Interests

Dr. Salgado's research currently focus on two areas:

  • Since 2014 I have been working with a focus on the biology of childhood melanocytic and other Neural Crest disorders. The main achievement in our Lab was the successful establishment of the "Gavin Baily Tissue Repository for Neural Crest Disorders" (GBTR), which under my coordination has started accruing tissue samples, mostly from NorthShore University, thanks to a formal collaboration with, and partial funding from Dr. Bruce Bauer. We have also received samples from our own Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and other institutions. We started in January of 2013 and currently have accumulated samples from over 200 patients. This is a unique resource for the study of Large/Giant Congenital Melanocytic Nevi (L/GCMN) and Neurocutaneous Melanocytosis (NCM). Current therapeutic approaches for these conditions are limited to complex and multiple surgeries with only palliative effects. Advancing knowledge about the genetics, cellular biology and experimental chemotherapy manipulation of these disorders may offer new treatment modalities for patients afflicted by them. Furthermore, studying these diseases is also important to understand the biology of malignant melanoma, one of the most common forms of cancer. With samples from our GBTR we have published many manuscripts. We also have now 20 nevus/tumor cell lines from patients with L/GCMN and NCM; using these cell lines we have publish 3 manuscripts. One describing a new mechanism associated with malignant transformation from leading to congenital melanoma, and the other two showing experimental results of drugs that block the NRAS signaling pathway in nevus cells cultured as spheroids.

 

  • Pediatric Tumors. During my anatomic pathology residency (started in 2016) I have been worked with Dr Rita Alaggio and Dr. Miguel Reyes-Múgica studying the molecular and epigenetic alterations of the pediatric tumors. We are analyzing the methylation profile of pediatric tumors with BCOR ITD and pediatric melanocytic central nervous system tumors.
Representative Publications

View Dr. Salgado's publications on PubMed

  • Salgado CM, Reyes-Múgica M, Garrido M, Kletskaya I, DeVito R, Alaggio R. Pediatric Soft Tissue Tumors with BCOR ITD Express EGFR but no OLIG2. Ped Dev Pathol (accepted).
  • Cramer S, Salgado CM, Reyes-Múgica M. A Study of Dermal Melanophages In Childhood Nevi. Journal of Cutaneous Pathology. J Cut Pathol. doi: 10.1111/cup.13718.
  • Salgado C, John I. A Morbidly Obese Man With an Enlarging Right Thigh Mass: Answer. Am J Dermatopathol. 2019 Jun;41(6):456.
  • Mirizio E, Marathi A, Hershey N, Ross C, Schollaert K, Salgado C, Reyes-Mugica M, Torok KS. Identifying the Signature Immune Phenotypes Present in Pediatric Localized Scleroderma. J Invest Dermatol. 2019 Mar;139(3):715-718.
  • Basu D, Salgado CM, Patel JR, Zabec J, Hoehl RM, Bauer B, Reyes-Múgica M. Pluripotency markers are differentially induced by IGF1 and bFGF in cells from patients' lesions of large/giant congenital melanocytic nevi. Biomark Res. 2019 Jan 14;7:2.
  • Basu D, Salgado CM, Bauer B, Khakoo Y, Patel JR, Hoehl RM, Bertolini DM, Zabec J, Brzozowski MR, Reyes-Múgica M. The Dual PI3K/mToR Inhibitor Omipalisib/GSK2126458 Inhibits Clonogenic Growth in Oncogenically transformed Cells from Neurocutaneous Melanocytosis. Cancer Genomics Proteomics. 2018 Jul-Aug;15(4):239-248.
  • Feingold B, Salgado CM, Reyes-Múgica M, Drant SE, Miller SA, Kennedy M, Kellman P, Schelbert EB, Wong TC. Diffuse myocardial fibrosis among healthy pediatric heart transplant recipients: Correlation of histology, cardiovascular magnetic resonance, and clinical phenotype. Pediatr Transplant. 2017 Aug;21(5).
  • Dangle P, Salgado C, Reyes-Mugica M, Schneck F, Ost M, Sims-Lucas S. Testicular Hypoplasia Is Driven by Defective Vascular Formation. Urology. 2017 Mar;101:94-98.
  • Joyce E, Ho J, El-Gharbawy A, Salgado CM, Ranganathan S, Reyes-Múgica M. Value of Renal Biopsy in Diagnosing Infantile Nephropathic Cystinosis Associated With Secondary Nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus. Pediatr Dev Pathol. 2017 Jan-Feb;20(1):72-75.