Dr. William Burns

Dr. Topalian is a physician-scientist whose studies of anti-tumor immunity have been foundational in developing cancer immunotherapy. She has published over 160 original research articles and reviews in this area and is one of the most highly cited researchers in the biomedical field. She received her medical and scientific training at Tufts University School of Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the National Cancer Institute. She joined the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in 2006 as the inaugural director of its Melanoma Program. Dr. Topalian is credited with advancing the clinical development of anti-PD-1 immunotherapy, and her work is widely recognized. She was named one of Nature’s 10 in 2014, and received the Karnofsky Award from ASCO in 2015, the Taubman Prize in 2016, the NCI’s Rosalind E. Franklin Award in 2018, the American Academy of Dermatology’s Gruber Memorial Cancer Research Award in 2020, and the Award for Distinguished Research in the Biomedical Sciences from the Association of American Medical Colleges in 2021 for landmark discoveries in cancer immunotherapy. Dr. Topalian was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2017, and to the American Association for Cancer Research Academy in 2022. Her work has opened new avenues of scientific investigation and established immunotherapy as a pillar of oncology. Dr. Topalian is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of Merkel Cell Carcinoma. Her top areas of expertise are Merkel Cell Carcinoma, Melanoma, Neuroendocrine Tumor, and Anal Cancer.

Dr. Julie Lange is an assistant professor of surgery, dermatology and oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Lange was one of the original members of the Johns Hopkins melanoma group when it was first formed in 1995 and now serves as a clinical co-director of the Melanoma Program. Dr. Lange introduced the sentinel node technique to Johns Hopkins for both melanoma and breast cancer in the 1990s and has extensive experience with this technique. Dr. Lange is a graduate of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and completed her general surgery training at Yale-New Haven Hospital. She completed a fellowship in surgical oncology and immunotherapy at the Surgery Branch of the National Cancer Institute as well. Dr. Lange joined the faculty of the Department of Surgery at Johns Hopkins in 1994 and subsequently earned a Sc.M. in clinical investigation at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She has particular interest in melanoma at extremes of age, and in the factors associated with variance in melanoma care. Dr. Lange has published the largest study of melanoma in children, adolescents and young adults. She recognizes that melanoma in the older patient is a growing epidemic and has investigated the socioeconomic, demographic and healthcare factors that influence the treatment of melanoma in older persons. Dr. Lange is a member of the melanoma panel of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a group that annually evaluates and revises national treatment guidelines for melanoma. In 2015, she was inducted for her work into the Miller-Coulson Academy of Clinical Excellence, which recognizes outstanding clinicians at Johns Hopkins based on a number of factors, including communication and interpersonal skills, professionalism and humanism, a scholarly approach to clinical practice, and a passion for patient care. Dr. Lange is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of Merkel Cell Carcinoma. Her top areas of expertise are Melanoma, Breast Cancer, Paget Disease of the Breast, Angiosarcoma, and Lymphadenectomy.

Raafat Abdel-Misih is a General Surgeon in Newark, Delaware. Dr. Abdel-Misih is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of Merkel Cell Carcinoma. His top areas of expertise are Hyperparathyroidism, Neuroendocrine Tumor, Familial Pancreatic Cancer, Parathyroidectomy, and Pancreatectomy.