Center for Clinical and Translational Science

Dr. Niroshana (Niro) Anandasabapathy is the recipient of The Skin Cancer Foundation 2012 Research Award.  The Foundation funds basic research and clinical studies to improve methods of prevention, detection, and treatment of skin cancer.  Dr. Anandasabapathy also received the 2012 American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Young Investigators Award.The AAD Awards recognize outstanding research by dermatologists-in-training in the United States and Canada, and the educational institutions that support their efforts. The purpose of the award is to acknowledge and support research that improves diagnosis and therapy in the practice and science of dermatology. Dr. Anandasabapathy has also been selected to serve as Associate Scientific Advisor for Science Translation Medicine, Science’s sister journal.  Her first commentary was published on February 29th 2012. 

Dr. Anandasabapathy began as a Clinical Scholar in 2009 in Dr. Ralph M. Steinmans’s Laboratory with the goal of studying the immune basis for cutaneous autoimmune diseases, skin cancers, and vaccine priming through the skin.  She received her MD and PhD from Stanford University School of Medicine.  Dr. Anandasabapathy completed her dermatology residency at New York University, focusing on cutaneous immunity and the intersection between autoimmune disease, cancer, and infectious disease.

Dr. Anandasabapathy has successfully competed for CCTS Pilot Project awards for the past three years and received project support from the Dermatology Foundation for the past two years.  Her Pilot Project for 2012 is the Use Of Flt3L to Help Phenotype and Characterize Human Cross-Presenting Dendritic Cells In Vivo. This project will help to develop effective approaches to vaccine design based on fundamental principles of immune memory, which include targeting vaccine antigens to specialized dendritic cell subsets. 

When asked to describe her experience in the Clinical Scholars Program, she stated, “I am hugely grateful for the opportunity to have interacted with leaders in clinical investigation and translation, such as Drs. Coller and Steinman and to gain mentors such as Dr. Krueger and Nussenzweig.  Their expertise spanning a range of topics on ethics, the regulatory process, health policy, basic and translational immunology, and clinical investigation has allowed me to move my work from the pre-clinical arena in animal models into Phase I drug development for people.  This is hugely gratifying. The other major benefit of the program are seasoned faculty such as Dr. Schlesinger and additional senior scholars transitioning from K awards to R awards, such as Drs. Caskey, Renwick, and Lowes. Through their guidance it was possible to garner peer-review and hands-on practical advice. This allowed better navigation of the IRB application process, NIH review process, and daily life as a researcher outside of standard clinical routes.”             

Dr. Anandasabapathy is scheduled to receive a Master’s degree in Clinical and Translational Research in June 2012.  Her next career step after completing a Phase I clinical trial will be to initiate her own research program and laboratory group while treating patients in the clinic.