Boris C. Bastian, MD

Boris C. Bastian, MD

Professor
Pathology
Division
Dermatopathology
Specialty Areas
Dermatopathology
Skin Cancer Biology
Genetics

UCSF
Pathology, Box 3116
1450 Third Street, Room HD-281
San Francisco, CA 94143
United States

Hospital Affiliations
UCSF Mount Zion
Research and Clinical Interests

Dr. Boris Bastian received his MD degree and Dr. Med degree from the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich. After completing a residency in dermatology at the University of Wurzburg, he received additional training in dermatopathology and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco before joining the institution's faculty and starting his research laboratory at UCSF’s Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. In 2010 he moved to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center to become Chairman of the Department of Pathology. He served as the President of the Society of Melanoma Research from 2010 to 2013. In 2011 he returned to UCSF where he holds the title of Gerson and Barbara Bakar Distinguished Professor of Cancer Biology. He founded and directs the Clinical Cancer Genomics Laboratory at UCSF, which performs molecular diagnostics for patients of the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. He has clinical responsibilities in the Dermatopathology Section of the Departments of Dermatology and Pathology, where he also oversees the molecular diagnostic laboratory.

Dr. Bastian’s research laboratory focuses on the molecular genetics of cutaneous neoplasms, with a particular emphasis on the discovery of genetic alterations useful for diagnosis, classification, and therapy. His laboratory has contributed to the discovery of multiple genetic alterations in melanocytic neoplasia that are relevant for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes and he has established a taxonomy of melanocytic neoplasia that integrates molecular and clinical disease aspects. He has received numerous awards for his work.

Selected Publications
  • Landi MT, Bauer j, Pfeiffer RM, Elder DE, Hulley B, Minghetti P, Calista D, Pinkel D, Kanetsky PA, Bastian BC. MC1R Germline Variants Confer Risk for BRAF-Mutant Melanoma. Science. 2006;313(5786):512–2. PMID: 16809487
  • Viros A, Fridlyand J, Bauer J, Lasithiotakis K, Garbe C, Pinkel D, Bastian BC. Improving Melanoma Classification by Integrating Genetic and Morphologic Features. PLoS Med. 2008;5(6):e120. PMC2408611
  • Shain AH, Garrido M, Botton T, Talevich E, Yeh I, Sanborn JZ, Chung J, Wang NJ, Kakavand H, Mann GJ, Thompson JF, Wiesner T, Roy R, Olshen AB, Gagnon A, Gray JW, Huh N, Hur JS, Busam KJ, Scolyer RA, Cho RJ, Murali R, Bastian BC. Exome sequencing of desmoplastic melanoma identifies recurrent NFKBIE promoter mutations and diverse activating mutations in the MAPK pathway. Nat Genet. 2015 Oct;47(10):1194–9
  • Shain AH, Joseph NM, Yu R, Benhamida J, Liu S, Prow T, Ruben B, North J, Pincus L, Yeh I, Judson R, Bastian BC. Genomic and Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Incremental Disruption of Key Signaling Pathways during Melanoma Evolution. Cancer Cell. 2018 Jul 9;34(1):45-55. PMID: 29990500
Awards
  • 2017 NCI Outstanding Investigator Award
  • 2017 Lila and Murray Gruber Memorial Cancer Research Award, American Academy of Dermatology
  • 2016 Research Achievement Award in Melanoma and Skin Cancer Research, American Skin Association
  • 2015 Stein Innovation Award, Research to Prevent Blindness
  • 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award, Society of Melanoma Research
  • 2012 Scientific Leadership Award, Melanoma Research Foundation