Dr. Roxana Pirker, MD, studied medicine at the Karl Landsteiner University in Austria, where her clinical training included surgical specialties and dermatology. Prior to receiving her medical degree, she obtained a bachelor’s in Health Sciences. She started her medical residency in dermatology and conducted clinical research projects with a focus on dermato-oncology at the Klinik Hietzing Hospital in Vienna, Austria. She is currently a post-Doctoral fellow in Dr. Coppé’s laboratory at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Pirker’s research project concentrates on understanding how malignant melanomas may arise from benign pre-existing nevi, and in particular how mechanisms associated with cellular senescence may prevent melanomagenesis. The objective of Dr. Pirker is to elucidate the signaling pathways that cause senescence-bypass and immuno-evasion in order to rationally design new treatment strategies and effective therapeutic interventions.