Andrzej Slominski, MD, PhD
Professor of Pathology
Director of Dermatopathology Fellowship
Secretary-Treasurer of the Pan-American Society for Pigment Cell Research
Member of the Council of the International Federation of Pigment Cell Societies
Member of Steering Committee of the Society for Melanoma Research
Member of the Editorial Board of Experimental Dermatology
Member of the Editorial Board of Journal of Pineal Research
University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
930 Madison Avenue; Room 525 (Clinical Office)
Memphis, TN 38163
Tel: 901-448-3741 (office); 901-448-6341 (lab)
Fax: 901-448-6979; e-mail: aslominski@utmem.edu

Biography:

Dr. Slominski received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Medical University of Gdansk, Poland. His Postdoctoral Fellowship was completed at the Department of Dermatology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (1985-1989), where he trained with Dr. Aaron B. Lerner and Dr. John Pawelek. In 1990-1993 he was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics and in 1993-1997 in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Albany Medical College, Albany, NY. He also completed residency in Anatomic Pathology (1993-1996) and Fellowship in Dermatopathology under Dr. Martin Mihm and Dr. Andrew Carlson (1997) at the Albany Medical College. In 1997 he joined the Department of Pathology, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL as an Associate Professor, and in 1998-2000 he was a Director of Dermatopathology Service and a Member of Melanoma Multidisciplinary Clinic. Dr. Slominski joined the Department of Pathology, as an Associate Professor in 2000, and became a Professor of Pathology in 2002 (tenured in 2003) at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, TN. Since  2003 he serves as a Director of Dermatopathology Fellowship. He is a member of the CGHS Curriculum Committee and full member of the University of Tennessee Cancer Institute. Dr. Slominski holds medical licenses in Tennessee and New York. He is board certified in both Anatomic Pathology and Dermatopathology.

His academic track record is marked by several awards and recognitions. Those include Aaron B Lectureship Awarded by the PASPCR for contribution to Pigment Biology and presented on May 12, 2008 during joined 20th IPCC and 5^th IMRC Conference, and William J. Cunliffe Prize for 2004 for contribution to the Neuroendocrinology of the Pilosebaceus Unit  (2004).  Dr Slominski is a member of the Editorial Boards  of the Experimental Dermatology, Journal of Pineal Research and of the Open Endocrinology.

He is the Secretary-Treasurer of the Panamerican Society for Pigment Cell Research, member of theCouncil of the International Federation of Pigment Cell Societies, and the member of Member of Steering Committee of the Society for Melanoma Research. He is serving as the Chairman of the 15^th Annual Meeting of the Panamerican Pigment Cell Society, “ The Pigmentary System: Securing a Place Under the Sun”, September 4-7, 2009, Memphis, TN, USA, and as the co-chair of the Symposium: Sensory functions of cells in stratified epithelia and their response to peripheral stimuli; XIII International Congress of Immunocytochemistry and Histochemistry, August 23-27, 2008, Gdansk, Poland.  Previously he chaired  the Session "Cell Biology and Pigmentation”, 14^th Annual PASPCR meeting “Pigmentation and Diversity”, September 13-16, 2007, Chicago, IL, the Session "Pigmentation" during Conference “Neurobiology of the Skin”, February 13-15, 2004, Munster, Germany, and  was the Co-Chairman of the Conference "Cutaneous Neuromodulation: the Proopiomelanocortin System", Germany, 1998, sponsored by the New York Academy of Science.

He has served as a reviewer for NIH including NIDDKD special emphasis panel (12/17/2002); Chairman of the Special Review Committee of NIAMSD (3/2003); Member, Special Review Committee, NIAMSD (10/2003 and 6/2004), (SEP) ZDK1-GRB-7 (J2)  11/30/2004), Skin and Rheumatology Review Committee (11/11/2004 and 7/11/2006), ZRG1 MOSS DO2 (11/1/2004 and 3/1/2005); NIH  ACTS (9/17-18/2007)  and AMS 1( 10/25-26//2007)  and ZAR1 MLB-G (M1) (06/24/2008-06/25/2008). He also served as an outside reviewer for Wellcome Trust Found (UK), National Science Found (NSF), Austrian Science Found (FWF), Philip Morris External Research Program, Israel Science Found, INSERM (France), Swiss National Science Foundation, Switzerland, Health Research Board, Ireland.

Clinical interest

 His clinical expertise is in general  dermatopathology with special focus on atypical pigmented lesions, melanoma, skin cancers and inflammatory diseases.  Additional areas of interest include special diagnostic and molecular techniques. He is also interested in novel method of melanoma therapy, and therapeutic usage of vitamin D-like compounds.

Research/teaching interests:

Research interests include neuroendocrinology of the skin, pigment cell biology, melanoma and molecular mechanism regulating tumor progression and differentiation. Additional areas of interest include mechanisms of response to stress, CRF and POMC, melatonin and vitamin D3 and related compounds.

Select Publications:

He has published over 198 full papers in peer reviewed journals.  Selected publications are below.

1. Slominski A, Tobin DJ, Zmijewski M, Wortsman J, Paus R (2008)  Cutaneous melatonin: production, metabolism and phenotypic effects. Trends Endocrinol Metab  19, 17-24.

2. Slominski A (2007) A nervous breakdown in the skin: Stress and the epidermal barrier. J Clin Invest 117, 3166-3169.

3. Slominski A, Wortsman J, RC Tuckey, Paus R (2007) Differential expression of HPA axis homolog in the skin. Mol Cell Endocrinol 265-266, 143-149.

4. Slominski A, Zbytek B, Zmijewski M, Slominski RM, S Kauser, Wortsman J, DJ Tobin (2006)  Corticotropin releasing hormone and the skin  Front Biosci 11, 2230-2248.

5. Slominski A, Semak I , Zjawiony J, Wortsman  J, Gandy MN, Li J, Zbytek B, Li W, Tuckey RT (2005) Enzymatic metabolism of ergosterol by cytochrome P450scc (CYP11A1) to biologically active 17,24-dihydroxyergosterol. Chemistry & Biology 12, 931-939

6. Slominski A, Plonka PM, Pisarchik A, Smart JL, Tolle V, Wortsman J, Low MJ (2005) Preservation of eumelanin hair pigmentation in Pomc-gene knockout mice on a non-agouti (a/a) genetic background. Endocrinology 146, 1245–1253

7. Slominski A, Wortsman J, Tobin DJ (2005) The cutaneous serotoninergic/melatoninergic system:  securing a place under the sun. FASEB J 19, 176-194.

8. Slominski A, Zbytek B, Szczesniewski A, Semak I , Kaminski J, Sweatman T, Wortsman  J (2005) CRH stimulation of corticosteroids production in melanocytes is mediated by ACTH. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 288, E701–E706

9. Slominski A, Wortsman J,  Plonka PM, Schallreuter KU, Paus R,  Tobin DJ (2005) Hair follicle pigmentation. J Invest Dermatol 124: 13-21.

10. Slominski A, Zjawiony J, Wortsman J, Semak I, Stewart J,  Pisarchik A, Sweatman T, Marcos J, Dunbar C, Tuckey RT (2004) A novel pathway for sequential transformation of 7-dehydrocholesterol and expression of the P450scc system in mammalian skin. Europ J Biochem 271, 4178-4188.

11. Slominski A, Pisarchik A, Tobin DJ, Mazurkiewicz JE, Wortsman J (2004) Differential expression of cutaneous corticotropin releasing hormone system. Endocrinology 145, 941-950.

12. Slominski A, Tobin DJ, Shibahara S, Wortsman J (2004) Melanin pigmentation in mammalian skin and its hormonal regulation. Physiol Rev 84, 1155-1228.

13. Slominski A, Pisarchik A, Semak I, Sweatman T, Wortsman J, Szczesniewski A, Slugocki G, McNulty J, Kauser S, Tobin DJ, Jing C, Johansson O (2002) Serotoninergic and melatoninergic systems are fully expressed in human skin.  FASEB J 16, 896-898.

14. Slominski A, Wortsman J, Pisarchik A, Zbytek A, Linton EA, Mazurkiewicz J, Wei ET  (2001) Cutaneous expression of corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH), urocortin and CRH receptors.  FASEB J 15, 1678-1693.

15. Slominski A, Wortsman J (2000) Neuroendocrinology of the skin. Endocrine Rev 21, 457-487.

16. Slominski A, Wortsman J, Luger T, Paus R, Salomon S (2000) Corticotropin releasing hormone and proopiomelanocortin involvement in the cutaneous response to stress. Physiol Rev 80, 979-1020.

The book “Biochemistry of the Skin: Neurohormones and Skin Function” by Tobin D, Slominski A will be published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PATENTS

1. “Inhibition of Abnormal Cell Growth with Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone Analogs” Edward T. Wei and Andrzej T. Slominski; US 2002142962; WO0153777.

2. “Cloning of splice variants of corticotropin releasing hormone receptor type 1 and therapeutic uses thereof” Alexander Pisarchik and Andrzej Slominski; PCT Int. Appl.  (2003),     110 pp.  CODEN: PIXXD2  WO  2003024990  A2  20030327  CAN 138:266042  AN 2003:242355

3. “Enzymatic method to produce 7-dehydropregnenolone, vitamin D3-like compounds and derivatives thereof” Andrzej Slominski, Robert Tuckey, Jordan Zjawiony, Jeremy Stewart, Jacobo Wortsman  PCT Int. Appl.  (2005),     56 pp.  CODEN: PIXXD2  WO  2005067673  A2  20050728  CAN 143:171401  AN 2005:673045.

4. “Microarray for evaluation of stress-related genes in skin” Alexander Pisarchik and Andrzej Slominski; U.S. Pat. Appl. Publ.  (2007),     191pp.  CODEN: USXXCO  US  2007059711  A1  20070315  CAN 146:335693  AN 2007:287096    CAPLUS

5. “Hydroxylated forms of ergosterols and ergocalciferols, derivatives thereof, methods of production and uses thereof.” Slominski,  Andrzej ; Tuckey, Robert; Li, Wei; Zbytek, Blazej; Zjawiony, Jordan; Wortsman, Jacobo.

PCT Int. Appl.  (2007),     53pp.  CODEN: PIXXD2  WO  2007006036  A2  20070111  CAN 146:135597  AN 2007:34082    CAPLUS

6. “Uses of melatonin in skin” Andrzej Slominski, Tobias Fischer, Trevor Sweatman.  United States Patent 20070218023.

7. Hydroxylated cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) derivatives produced by cytochrome P450scc and uses therefor.  Slominski A, Tuckey Robert, Zmijewski Michal, Li Wei, Zjawiony  Jordan,  Janjentovic Zorica, Zbytek Blazej, Nguyen Minh Ngoc. Provisional patent Filed on February 28, 2008.

8. Inhibition of tyrosinase activity or melanin synthesis as a new method to sensitize malignant melanoma to immunotherapy, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and phototherapy.  Andrzej Slominski. Provisional patent filed on April; 25, 2008.