Rhoda M. Alani, MD
Herbert Mescon Chair, Dermatology

Biography
Rhoda M. Alani, MD is the Herbert Mescon Professor and Chair of Dermatology at Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center. She received her MD degree with Honors and Distinction in Research from the University of Michigan and completed her internship in internal medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital and a residency in dermatology at Harvard Medical School. From 1999-2009 Dr. Alani was the Director of the Laboratory of Cutaneous Oncology and Director of the Melanoma and Pigmented Lesion Clinics in Dermatology at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Alani’s research focus is in understanding the molecular basis of melanoma development and progression with the aim of translating her laboratory findings to better prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment of melanoma. Dr. Alani is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Societies, the American Academy of Dermatology, the Society for Investigative Dermatology, the American Association for Cancer Research and was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2005. She is the author of numerous scientific publications and is the owner of several US patents related to melanoma biomarkers, novel melanoma therapies, and imaging systems for improved melanoma detection
Other Positions
- Professor, Dermatology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
- Professor, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
- Member, BU-BMC Cancer Center, Boston University
- Member, Genome Science Institute, Boston University
- Graduate Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students), Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences
Education
- University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, MD
- Stony Brook University, BS
Publications
- Published on 8/25/2023
Kida M, Fatima I, Rozhkova E, Otero-Viñas M, Wu M, Kalin JH, Cole PA, Falanga V, Alani RM, Sharov AA. Inhibition of the CoREST Repressor Complex Promotes Wound Re-Epithelialization through the Regulation of Keratinocyte Migration. J Invest Dermatol. 2023 Aug 25. PMID: 37633457.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 6/5/2023
Amara SV, Grbic N, Melson G, Brem CE, Almier N, Bhawan J, Alani RM, Collard M. Assessment of lipid and pigment content in suspicious melanocytic lesions to improve melanoma detection. Melanoma Res. 2023 Aug 01; 33(4):283-292. PMID: 37276030.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 4/5/2023
Gibson F, Hanly A, Fisher R, Wyant WA, Wu M, Collard M, Alani RM. Epigenetics and cutaneous neoplasms: from mechanism to therapy. Epigenomics. 2023 Feb; 15(3):167-187. PMID: 37020393.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 11/8/2022
Gibson F, Hanly A, Grbic N, Grunberg N, Wu M, Collard M, Alani RM. Epigenetic Dysregulation in Autoimmune and Inflammatory Skin Diseases. Clin Rev Allergy Immunol. 2022 Dec; 63(3):447-471. PMID: 36346551.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 12/13/2021
Hanly A, Gibson F, Nocco S, Rogers S, Wu M, Alani RM. Drugging the Epigenome: Overcoming Resistance to Targeted and Immunotherapies in Melanoma. JID Innov. 2022 Mar; 2(2):100090. PMID: 35199090.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 5/16/2020
Kam S, Collard M, Lam J, Alani RM. Gut Microbiome Perturbations in Patients with Hidradenitis Suppurativa: A Case Series. J Invest Dermatol. 2021 01; 141(1):225-228.e2. PMID: 32422215.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 10/17/2019
Anastas JN, Zee BM, Kalin JH, Kim M, Guo R, Alexandrescu S, Blanco MA, Giera S, Gillespie SM, Das J, Wu M, Nocco S, Bonal DM, Nguyen QD, Suva ML, Bernstein BE, Alani R, Golub TR, Cole PA, Filbin MG, Shi Y. Re-programing Chromatin with a Bifunctional LSD1/HDAC Inhibitor Induces Therapeutic Differentiation in DIPG. Cancer Cell. 2019 11 11; 36(5):528-544.e10. PMID: 31631026.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 3/25/2019
Kim E, Zucconi BE, Wu M, Nocco SE, Meyers DJ, McGee JS, Venkatesh S, Cohen DL, Gonzalez EC, Ryu B, Cole PA, Alani RM. MITF Expression Predicts Therapeutic Vulnerability to p300 Inhibition in Human Melanoma. Cancer Res. 2019 05 15; 79(10):2649-2661. PMID: 30910803.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 4/1/2018
Eisenstein A, Gonzalez EC, Raghunathan R, Xu X, Wu M, McLean EO, McGee J, Ryu B, Alani RM. Emerging Biomarkers in Cutaneous Melanoma. Mol Diagn Ther. 2018 04; 22(2):203-218. PMID: 29411301.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 2/1/2018
Eisenstein A, Panova IP, Chung HJ, Goldberg LJ, Zhang Q, Lazova R, Bhawan J, Busam KJ, Symanowski JT, Alani RM, Ryu B. Quantitative assessment of neuropilin-2 as a simple and sensitive diagnostic assay for spitzoid melanocytic lesions. Melanoma Res. 2018 Feb; 28(1):71-75. PMID: 29227334.
Read at: PubMed
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