Cláudia M. Salgado, MD, PhD

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.