Sarah Vitug

• A native of San Diego, Sarah graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and a Bachelor of Science in Biopsychology.
• In 2013, she earned a Master of Arts in Education from Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles, California.
• In 2014 she began clinical research with the John Wayne Cancer Institute (JWCI) in Santa Monica, California, where she worked alongside surgical oncology fellows.

Research

Sarah is investigating the nature of pregnancy-associated melanoma and whether or not the pregnant environment contributes to melanoma progression.

The hypothesis is that serum from pregnant women will alter human melanoma gene expression manifesting in increased angiogenesis, melanoma cell proliferation, and metastatic potential resulting in poorer survival.

Supervisors

Title: Dissecting molecular events in pregnancy-associated melanoma

Kiarash Khosrotehrani, MD, PhD, Helmut Schaider, MD, Diamantina, Translational Research Institute (TRI) UQ