Jeffrey E. Gershenwald, M.D.
Melanoma Moon Shot
About Dr. Gershenwald
Jeffrey E. Gershenwald, M.D., is a surgical oncologist-investigator in the melanoma field. In addition to his melanoma clinical practice and leadership role in the Melanoma and Skin Center, he has an active research program that's focused on integrating clinical, pathological, molecular and immune factors to improve melanoma staging and to develop clinical tools to improve clinical decision-making for patients with melanoma.
Affiliations and Related Links
Fighting Cancer: It's Personal
What makes the Moon Shots Program stand out?
The MD Anderson Moon Shots Program™ stands out as a unique and innovative research initiative that leverages and empowers a talented multidisciplinary melanoma team. This team partners with Moon Shot™ platforms towards common goals that couldn't possibly be achieved without such a sustained and coordinated effort. A particularly exciting feature of our Moon Shot is that we've been able to engage national and international colleagues, too.
What motivates and excites you?
We're at a tipping point in our knowledge revolution of why melanoma develops in the first place and how we can impact the disease. By working with a stellar team of colleagues across many disciplines, coupled with ever-expanding technological capabilities that help us dive ever deeper, we're now able to develop solutions to problems we've been facing for quite some time. It's no longer a question of if we can make a difference, but when and how much of an impact we can have.
What makes your fight against cancer personal?
As is the case for far too many of us, I, too, have lost family members, friends and colleagues to cancer. By sharing and leveraging our unique strengths, we have the opportunity to make a real difference and create a better path for all going forward. The time to act together to raise the bar against melanoma is clearly now.
What's your Moon Shot focus?
I'm a co-leader of the Melanoma Moon Shot™, a multidisciplinary initiative that's striving to reduce the incidence and deaths from melanoma. Our engagement in public policy initiatives has impacted melanoma prevention and we're now working to disseminate our primary prevention educational initiatives. I'm also leading efforts to harness our lessons learned in advanced disease, as well as to integrate them with our evolving and improving understanding of early-stage disease to develop and refine management strategies for these patients.
What do you hope to accomplish?
Simply stated, we hope to accomplish clinical impact. By setting in motion improved prevention efforts through early childhood education, we can begin to prevent melanoma – locally, nationally and beyond. For patients with melanoma, we're leveraging our growing understanding of the clinical, pathological, molecular and immunological factors involved to develop better and more personalized treatment strategies.
What else do you want people to know about you and your work?
It's indeed a privilege to be part of the team here at MD Anderson. Our Moon Shot also allows me to leverage complementary efforts in which I have been heavily involved, such as chairing the Melanoma Expert Panel of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and co-leading the melanoma Cancer Genome Atlas project, both of which continue to contribute to our knowledge base to ultimately reduce the burden of melanoma as a health issue.