Susana Ortiz-Urda, MD

Asst Professor in Residence

Dermatology

Dr. Susana Ortiz-Urda is a dermatologist and melanoma specialist who serves as co-director of the UCSF Melanoma Center. She cares for patients with early and advanced melanoma.

Ortiz-Urda’s lab works with human models of epithelial neoplasia and melanoma. She studies cancer signaling at a genetic sequencing level to identify novel transcripts, their functions and the factors that promote resistance to drugs or cancer progression. She hopes her findings may point to key biomarkers or new targets for treating melanoma.

Ortiz-Urda earned her medical degree and doctorate at the University of Vienna. She completed a residency in dermatology and a postdoctoral fellowship in epithelial biology at Stanford University, followed by a cutaneous oncology fellowship at UCSF. She earned her master of business administration degree at New York University.

Ortiz-Urda is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology, Austrian Society of Dermatology and Venereology, and Dermatology Foundation. She has received several honors, including the Kardinal-Innitzer Award for Outstanding Science in Dermatology and the Unilever Award from the Austrian Society of Dermatology and Venereology.

Learn more about Ortiz-Urda's research: http://cancer.ucsf.edu/research/ortiz-lab.

Publications:

Poor melanoma outcomes and survival in Asian American and Pacific Islander patients.

Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology

Zheng YJ, Ho C, Lazar A, Ortiz-Urda S

A dual pathway inhibition strategy using BKM120 combined with vemurafenib is poorly tolerated in BRAF V600E/K mutant advanced melanoma.

Pigment cell & melanoma research

Algazi AP, Rotow J, Posch C, Ortiz-Urda S, Pelayo A, Munster PN, Daud A

MEK/CDK4,6 co-targeting is effective in a subset of NRAS, BRAF and 'wild type' melanomas.

Oncotarget

Posch C, Sanlorenzo M, Ma J, Kim ST, Zekhtser M, Ortiz-Urda S

The lincRNA MIRAT binds to IQGAP1 and modulates the MAPK pathway in NRAS mutant melanoma.

Scientific reports

Sanlorenzo M, Vujic I, Esteve-Puig R, Lai K, Vujic M, Lin K, Posch C, Dimon M, Moy A, Zekhtser M, Johnston K, Gho D, Ho W, Gajjala A, Oses Prieto J, Burlingame A, Daud A, Rappersberger K, Ortiz-Urda S

Cutaneous CD56+ T-cell lymphoma developing during pembrolizumab treatment for metastatic melanoma.

JAAD case reports

Zheng YJ, Lee A, Pincus L, Ho W, Vujic M, Ortiz-Urda S

Dual MEK/AKT inhibition with trametinib and GSK2141795 does not yield clinical benefit in metastatic NRAS-mutant and wild-type melanoma.

Pigment cell & melanoma research

Algazi AP, Esteve-Puig R, Nosrati A, Hinds B, Hobbs-Muthukumar A, Nandoskar P, Ortiz-Urda S, Chapman PB, Daud A

New insights in melanoma biomarkers: long-noncoding RNAs.

Melanoma management

Moreno-Traspas R, Vujic I, Sanlorenzo M, Ortiz-Urda S

Pharmacological inhibitors of c-KIT block mutant c-KIT mediated migration of melanocytes and melanoma cells in vitro and in vivo.

Oncotarget

Posch C, Moslehi H, Sanlorenzo M, Green G, Vujic I, Panzer-Grümayer R, Rappersberger K, Ortiz-Urda S

Phosphoproteomic Analyses of NRAS(G12) and NRAS(Q61) Mutant Melanocytes Reveal Increased CK2a Kinase Levels in NRAS(Q61) Mutant Cells.

The Journal of investigative dermatology

Posch C, Sanlorenzo M, Vujic I, Oses-Prieto JA, Cholewa BD, Kim ST, Ma J, Lai K, Zekhtser M, Esteve-Puig R, Green G, Chand S, Burlingame AL, Panzer-Grümayer R, Rappersberger K, Ortiz-Urda S

Oncogenic KIT mutations in different exons lead to specific changes in melanocyte phospho-proteome.

Journal of proteomics

Sanlorenzo M, Vujic I, Posch C, Ma J, Lin K, Lai K, Lee D, Vujic M, Oses-Prieto JA, Chand S, Rodriguez-Peralto JL, Burlingame A, Ortiz-Urda S

Searching for the Chokehold of NRAS Mutant Melanoma.

The Journal of investigative dermatology

Posch C, Vujic I, Monshi B, Sanlorenzo M, Weihsengruber F, Rappersberger K, Ortiz-Urda S

Acyl protein thioesterase 1 and 2 (APT-1, APT-2) inhibitors palmostatin B, ML348 and ML349 have different effects on NRAS mutant melanoma cells.

Oncotarget

Vujic I, Sanlorenzo M, Esteve-Puig R, Vujic M, Kwong A, Tsumura A, Murphy R, Moy A, Posch C, Monshi B, Rappersberger K, Ortiz-Urda S

The burden of malignant melanoma--lessons to be learned from Austria.

European journal of cancer (Oxford, England : 1990)

Monshi B, Vujic M, Kivaranovic D, Sesti A, Oberaigner W, Vujic I, Ortiz-Urda S, Posch C, Feichtinger H, Hackl M, Rappersberger K

Time-Dependent Measurement of Adverse Events-Reply.

JAMA dermatology

Sanlorenzo M, Vujic I, Ortiz-Urda S

Pembrolizumab Cutaneous Adverse Events and Their Association With Disease Progression.

JAMA dermatology

Sanlorenzo M, Vujic I, Daud A, Algazi A, Gubens M, Luna SA, Lin K, Quaglino P, Rappersberger K, Ortiz-Urda S

Melanoma risk perception and prevention behavior among African-Americans: the minority melanoma paradox.

Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology

Goldenberg A, Vujic I, Sanlorenzo M, Ortiz-Urda S

Combined Inhibition of MEK and Plk1 Has Synergistic Antitumor Activity in NRAS Mutant Melanoma.

The Journal of investigative dermatology

Posch C, Cholewa BD, Vujic I, Sanlorenzo M, Ma J, Kim ST, Kleffel S, Schatton T, Rappersberger K, Gutteridge R, Ahmad N, Ortiz/Urda S

Correction: Cost-Effectiveness Of Treatment Strategies for BRAF-Mutated Metastatic Melanoma.

PloS one

Curl P, Vujic I, van 't Veer LJ, Ortiz-Urda S, Kahn JG

The risk of melanoma in pilots and cabin crew: UV measurements in flying airplanes.

JAMA dermatology

Sanlorenzo M, Vujic I, Posch C, Cleaver JE, Quaglino P, Ortiz-Urda S

The combination of axitinib followed by paclitaxel/carboplatin yields extended survival in advanced BRAF wild-type melanoma: results of a clinical/correlative prospective phase II clinical trial.

British journal of cancer

Algazi AP, Cha E, Ortiz-Urda SM, McCalmont T, Bastian BC, Hwang J, Pampaloni MH, Behr S, Chong K, Cortez B, Quiroz A, Coakley F, Liu S, Daud AI

Detection of GNAQ mutations and reduction of cell viability in uveal melanoma cells with functionalized gold nanoparticles.

Biomedical microdevices

Posch C, Latorre A, Crosby MB, Celli A, Latorre A, Vujic I, Sanlorenzo M, Green GA, Weier J, Zekhtser M, Ma J, Monico G, Char DH, Jusufbegovic D, Rappersberger K, Somoza Á, Ortiz-Urda S

Metformin and trametinib have synergistic effects on cell viability and tumor growth in NRAS mutant cancer.

Oncotarget

Vujic I, Sanlorenzo M, Posch C, Esteve-Puig R, Yen AJ, Kwong A, Tsumura A, Murphy R, Rappersberger K, Ortiz-Urda S

The risk of melanoma in airline pilots and cabin crew: a meta-analysis.

JAMA dermatology

Sanlorenzo M, Wehner MR, Linos E, Kornak J, Kainz W, Posch C, Vujic I, Johnston K, Gho D, Monico G, McGrath JT, Osella-Abate S, Quaglino P, Cleaver JE, Ortiz-Urda S

Comparative profile of cutaneous adverse events: BRAF/MEK inhibitor combination therapy versus BRAF monotherapy in melanoma.

Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology

Sanlorenzo M, Choudhry A, Vujic I, Posch C, Chong K, Johnston K, Meier M, Osella-Abate S, Quaglino P, Daud A, Algazi A, Rappersberger K, Ortiz-Urda S

Mutant NRASQ61 shares signaling similarities across various cancer types--potential implications for future therapies.

Oncotarget

Vujic I, Posch C, Sanlorenzo M, Yen AJ, Tsumura A, Kwong A, Feichtenschlager V, Lai K, Arneson DV, Rappersberger K, Ortiz-Urda SM

Cost-effectiveness of treatment strategies for BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma.

PloS one

Curl P, Vujic I, van 't Veer LJ, Ortiz-Urda S, Kahn JG

Merkel cell carcinoma: mitoses, expression of Ki-67 and bcl-2 correlate with disease progression.

Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV

Vujic I, Marker M, Posch C, Mühlehner D, Monshi B, Breier F, Steiner A, Ortiz-Urda S, Rappersberger K

DNA and aptamer stabilized gold nanoparticles for targeted delivery of anticancer therapeutics.

Nanoscale

Latorre A, Posch C, Garcimartín Y, Celli A, Sanlorenzo M, Vujic I, Ma J, Zekhtser M, Rappersberger K, Ortiz-Urda S, Somoza Á

Single-point mutation detection in RNA extracts using gold nanoparticles modified with hydrophobic molecular beacon-like structures.

Chemical communications (Cambridge, England)

Latorre A, Posch C, Garcimartín Y, Ortiz-Urda S, Somoza Á

Melanoma immunotherapy.

Cancer biology & therapy

Sanlorenzo M, Vujic I, Posch C, Dajee A, Yen A, Kim S, Ashworth M, Rosenblum MD, Algazi A, Osella-Abate S, Quaglino P, Daud A, Ortiz-Urda S

Mycoplasma pneumoniae-associated mucositis--case report and systematic review of literature.

Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV

Vujic I, Shroff A, Grzelka M, Posch C, Monshi B, Sanlorenzo M, Ortiz-Urda S, Rappersberger K

Low-dose inhalation of interleukin-2 bio-chemotherapy for the treatment of pulmonary metastases in melanoma patients.

British journal of cancer

Posch C, Weihsengruber F, Bartsch K, Feichtenschlager V, Sanlorenzo M, Vujic I, Monshi B, Ortiz-Urda S, Rappersberger K

NRAS mutant melanoma--undrugable?

Oncotarget

Posch C, Ortiz-Urda S

Combined targeting of MEK and PI3K/mTOR effector pathways is necessary to effectively inhibit NRAS mutant melanoma in vitro and in vivo.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Posch C, Moslehi H, Feeney L, Green GA, Ebaee A, Feichtenschlager V, Chong K, Peng L, Dimon MT, Phillips T, Daud AI, McCalmont TH, LeBoit PE, Ortiz-Urda S

Cutting edge in medical management of cutaneous oncology.

Seminars in cutaneous medicine and surgery

Chong K, Daud A, Ortiz-Urda S, Arron ST, UCSF High Risk Skin Cancer Program

Modeling inducible human tissue neoplasia identifies an extracellular matrix interaction network involved in cancer progression.

Cancer cell

Reuter JA, Ortiz-Urda S, Kretz M, Garcia J, Scholl FA, Pasmooij AM, Cassarino D, Chang HY, Khavari PA

A laminin-collagen complex drives human epidermal carcinogenesis through phosphoinositol-3-kinase activation.

Cancer research

Waterman EA, Sakai N, Nguyen NT, Horst BA, Veitch DP, Dey CN, Ortiz-Urda S, Khavari PA, Marinkovich MP

Type VII collagen is required for Ras-driven human epidermal tumorigenesis.

Science (New York, N.Y.)

Ortiz-Urda S, Garcia J, Green CL, Chen L, Lin Q, Veitch DP, Sakai LY, Lee H, Marinkovich MP, Khavari PA

[Erythema induratum-nodular vasculitis].

Journal der Deutschen Dermatologischen Gesellschaft = Journal of the German Society of Dermatology : JDDG

Marker M, Ortiz-Urda S, Lilgenau N, Rappersberger K

Carbamazepine-induced DRESS syndrome with recurrent fever and exanthema.

International journal of dermatology

Valencak J, Ortiz-Urda S, Heere-Ress E, Kunstfeld R, Base W

The plant lectin wheat germ agglutinin inhibits the binding of pemphigus foliaceus autoantibodies to desmoglein 1 in a majority of patients and prevents pathomechanisms of pemphigus foliaceus in vitro and in vivo.

Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950)

Ortiz-Urda S, Elbe-Bürger A, Smolle J, Marquart Y, Chudnovsky Y, Ridky TW, Bernstein P, Wolff K, Rappersberger K

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Susana Ortiz-Urda, MD