cu center for rare melanomas
The CU Center for Rare Melanomas is a joint clinical and research center dedicated to the understanding and treatment of rare non-sun related types of melanoma such as mucosal, acral, and uveal. Our mission is to uncover causes and improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of rare melanomas through cutting-edge basic, epidemiologic and translational research, initiation of clinical trials designed for patients with rare melanomas and increasing awareness of rare melanomas in the medical community and general public.
lab personnel
William Robinson, MD, PhD
Principle Investigator, Co-Director
Kasey Couts, PhD
Principle Investigator, Co-Director
Morgan MacBeth, BS
Research Services Professional
Kylie Michel, BS
Research Services Professional
Pritika Parmar
Student Assistant
Phaedra Whitty, BS
Research Services Professional
selected publications
Couts KL, VanGulick R, Turner JA, Bemis J, Classon A, Applegate A, Wells K, Gorden N, Mughal T, Robinson WA. Comprehensive genomic profiling of acral and mucosal melanomas identifies potential therapeutic targets. (Submitted)
Mukherjee N, Strosnider A, Vagher B, Lambert KA, Slaven S, Robinson WA, Amato CM, Couts KL, Bemis JGT, Turner JA, Norris DA, Shellman YG. BH3 mimetics induce apoptosis independent of DRP-1 in melanoma. Cell Death Dis. 2018 Sep 5;9(9):907. PMID: 30185782
Turner JA, Bemis JGT, Bagby SM, Capasso A, Yacob BW, Chimed TS, Van Gulick R, Lee H, Tobin R, Tentler JJ, Pitts T, McCarter M, Robinson WA, Couts KL. BRAF fusions identified in melanomas have variable treatment responses and phenotypes. Oncogene. 2018 Sep 25. PMID: 30254212.
Couts KL, Bemis J, Turner JA, Bagby SM, Murphy D, Christiansen J, Hintzsche JD, Le A, Pitts TM, Wells K, Applegate A, Amato C, Multani P, Chow-Maneval E, Tentler JJ, Shellman YG, Rioth MJ, Tan AC, Gonzalez R, Medina T, Doebele RC, Robinson WA. ALK Inhibitor Response in Melanomas Expressing EML4-ALK Fusions and Alternate ALK Isoforms. Mol Cancer Ther. 2018 Jan;17(1):222-231. PMID: 29054983
Hintzsche JD, Gorden NT, Amato CM, Kim J, Wuensch KE, Robinson SE, Applegate AJ, Couts KL, Medina TM, Wells KR, Wisell JA, McCarter MD, Box NF, Shellman YG, Gonzalez RC, Lewis KD, Tentler JJ, Tan AC, Robinson WA. Whole-exome sequencing identifies recurrent SF3B1 R625 mutation and comutation of NF1 and KIT in mucosal melanoma. Melanoma Res. 2017 Jun;27(3):189-199. PMID: 28296713
Turner J, Couts K, Sheren J, Saichaemchan S, Ariyawutyakorn W, Avolio I, Cabral E, Glogowska M, Amato C, Robinson S, Hintzsche J, Applegate A, Seelenfreund E, Gonzalez R, Wells K, Bagby S, Tentler J, Tan AC, Wisell J,Varella-Garcia M, Robinson W. Kinase gene fusions in defined subsets of melanoma. Pigment Cell Melanoma Res. 2017 Jan;30(1):53-62. PMID: 27864876