Emily Avitan-Hersh, MD

About the Investigator:

Dr. Emily Avitan-Hersh is the Director of Dermatology at Rambam Health Care Campus, Head of the Melanoma Surveillance Program at Rambam, and the PI of the skin cancer research lab in the Clinical Research Institute at Rambam (CRIR). She received her MD from the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion and completed her residency in the Department of Dermatology at Rambam. Following a PhD in Medical Science from the Technion, she established the skin cancer research lab at CRIR. She holds a senior lecturer position at the Technion and is the Treasurer of the Israeli Society of Dermatology and Venerology.

About the Research:

Squamous cell carcinoma (or SCC) is the second most common type of skin cancer, and its cases are increasing. The outlook for patients with advanced SCC is often poor, especially when tumors are large, inoperable, or have spread to other parts of the body. Recent treatments aimed at boosting the immune system to fight the tumor have improved survival rates for SCC patients, but the success rates are still not high enough.

Chemokines are small molecules that help cells communicate. Dr. Avitan-Hersh and her team have discovered that a chemokine receptor called CXCR7 plays a significant role in SCC, affecting both tumor growth and the immune response. They plan to conduct an extensive study using cell cultures, advanced mouse models, and patient samples to understand how this receptor works and influences the development of SCC and the effectiveness of new treatments.

Dr. Avitan will also investigate which chemokines are secreted by SCC and examine the clinical and genetic differences between patients with tumors that have low or high levels of CXCR7. Her goal is to combine laboratory research with real-life patient data to improve our understanding of CXCR7 in skin cancer and its impact on tumor response to immunotherapy, ultimately enhancing patient care.