Weeraratna Lab

Burying the hatchet with this motley crew!!

A huge congrats to Abi in my lab for her first author paper in Cancer Research! Well done, Abi! And thanks to all our collaborators, and the awesome lab team :)

As of this week the Weeraratna lab has members from every continent. Yes, even Antarctica!!

So proud of my super Staff Scientist Marie Webster for winning the Thomas B. Fitzpatrick Award for the best paper in our flagship melanoma journal during the past 3 years!!! Way to go, Marie- *we* knew pseudosenescence was important!!!

Today is a big day for the Weeraratna lab our first Ph.D. student defended today. She's also the first student in the Wistar/Sciences Cancer Biology program to graduate, so it's a double first for us! Congrats Aman! Later today, grad student #2 will rock her prelims (I just know it!)-good luck, Abi!! I am one proud mamajama right now.

So many wonderful things happening in our little lab these days :) wedding number 2 is coming up soon! Surprise shower for Vito and Gretchen!

Wedding shower for our dear Gretchen 💐🍰🍩🍷

We are delighted to share in the joy of our graduate student Abi (Bibatou Ndoye), and her new husband Nikos as they embark on their new life together. Here they are in their gorgeous Senegalese wedding outfits. Congrats, Abi and Nikos!!

Today was an amazing day at the Wistar Melanoma Awareness Day at the Phillies game. I'm so proud of my lab who all volunteered to be there and work hard to make sure everyone got suncreen, and learned a little something about the Wistar and about melanoma. And it was a special treat to have my new friend T.J. Sharpe there to throw out the first pitch, and Allen Starnes to debut his invention, these amazing new sunscreen dispensers: http://www.the-sunshield.com/ So happy to be a part of this amazing team, and the awesome The Wistar Institute.

Welcome To Sun Shield Sun Shield is the world's most innovative sunscreen dispensing system. Our device is insulated from both hot and cold and is completely touch-free.

Well, well, well. Look at that. It's May again. And while it's cold and dreary outside, it's Melanoma Awareness Month. So prepare for your daily onslaught of dire warnings and fun facts- get started here at www.skincancer.org. And for those of you who live in Philly- come out to the May 22nd ball game where Wistar's melanoma research center will be promoting melanoma awareness- you can BOGO tickets here at: https://wistar.org/melanoma-awareness-2016

The Skin Cancer Foundation - SkinCancer.org

A huge congrats to my postdoc Marie Webster on the receipt of a K99 award! SO PROUD OF YOU! Excited to watch you flourish in the melanoma research field:)

Embargo lifted!! Nature paper is out. Thanks again to my amazing team!!! https://wistar.org/news-and-media/press-releases/aging-impacts-therapeutic-response-melanoma-cells

http://www.cancerfrontline.org/top-names-in-cancer-call-for-ban-on-tanning-beds/

Formal acceptance of our Nature manuscript arrived today: "We are delighted to accept your manuscript entitled "sFRP2 in the aged microenvironment drives melanoma metastasis and therapy resistance" for publication in Nature. Thank you for choosing to publish your interesting work with us."
This manuscript was a huge effort and represents the amazing teamwork of my incredible trainees, and the immense support and collaboration of the entire melanoma community. We are so lucky to have such incredible colleagues!

Congrats to two Weeraratna Lab members- Reeti Behera for winning an SMR travel award, and Amanpreet Kaur for winning a Harry A. Bradburd fellowship! Way to go, ladies!

is coming up! Consider supporting the awesome young scientists of The Wistar Institute in their quest to cure cancer! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDlil-kXwEM

The Superheroes of Science! - A Video for #GivingTuesday 2015 by The Wistar Institute BE A SUPERHERO TODAY AND HELP SUPPORT POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH AND SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY! Go to wistar.org/helppostdocs Cancer and other diseases are attacking o...

This has to change- protecting our kids is the first step in the fight against melanoma: http://projectblackdot.org/ -slip

Project Black Dot Help stop skin cancer where it starts. Join Maria Sharapova, and Supergoop! today to help protect your child with a simple permission slip.

Girl power at the Wistar Melanoma Research Center :) And both grants have aging implications-that's pretty cool!

Melanoma Research Foundation Awards Prestigious Grants to Two Wistar Scientists | Wistar Two esteemed Wistar Institute melanoma scientists have been awarded prestigious grants from The Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF), the largest independent organization devoted to melanoma. These grants are designed to promote the study of prevention, diagnosis and treatment for the most aggressive…

one of the neatest movies explaining how checkpoint inhibitors work: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-us/cancer-news/news-report/2015-09-08-nice-approves-new-immunotherapy-drug-for-advanced-melanoma

NICE approves new immunotherapy drug for advanced melanoma A new immunotherapy drug has been approved for NHS patients in England whose melanoma has stopped responding to previous treatments.

Congratulations to Aman Kaur for passing her comprehensive exams!! We are so proud of you!

Welcome to Curt Kugel, newest postdoc! Happy Research!

Our deepest condolences to the family of Oliver Sacks, who died of melanoma this weekend. RIP.

Oliver Sacks in The New Yorker - The New Yorker The neurologist and writer died on Sunday at the age of eighty-two. His writing testified to human frailty and human strength.

President Jimmy Carter will be treated with Pembrolizumab for his stage IV melanoma. Our thoughts are with him. Our friend and collaborator, Toni Ribas, comments in this article. http://www.livescience.com/51942-jimmy-carter-melanoma-immunotherapy.html

www.livescience.com We're sorry, but this page cannot be found.

New Treatment for Locally Advanced Form of Most Common Skin Cancer - CANCER RESEARCH Catalyst The FDA recently approved sonidegib (Odomzo) for certain patients with basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer.

Proud of our Wistar post-docs and friends for raising money and awareness for melanoma research, and helping our friends at the Melanoma Research foundation!

Are we really getting through to the general public? Couldn't ask for better news today! http://consumer.healthday.com/cancer-information-5/skin-cancer-news-108/indoor-tanning-declines-as-cancer-warnings-mount-700895.html

Indoor Tanning Rates Decline As Cancer Warnings Mount Study finds Americans are staying away from unhealthy practice in growing numbers

We are working so hard to change this mindset:http://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents-blog/2015/no-sunscreen?utm_content=sf38506431&utm_medium=spredfast&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=National+Cancer+Institute&cid=tw_NCIMain_nci_Prevention/Risk.blog.skin+_sf38506431

American Adults Not Using Sunscreen Many Americans are not using sunscreen regularly to protect their skin from sun damage.