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Slominski

Andrzej Slominski MD, PhD

Endowed Professor, Department of Dermatology, University of Alabama Birmingham | Senior Scientist, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cancer Chemoprevention Program, UAB | Pathologist/Dermatopathologist, Birmingham VA Medical Center

VA Birmingham health care

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Personal Statement

Dr. Slominski is a physician-scientist trained by Aaron Lerner and John Pawelek in pigment biology and melanoma and by Martin Mihm in skin pathology. He has a longstanding and unbroken trajectory of research (skin, cellular and molecular biology, biochemistry, melanin pigmentation, cancer, photobiology and endocrinology) and clinical (dermatopathology and pathology) activities with >400 peer reviewed papers. His recent focus is on  neuroendocrinology of the skin, cancer, photobiology, pigment biology, cutaneous steroidogenesis, vitamin D plus novel secosteroids and melatonin will complement this important study. Dr. Slominski’s  contribution to the International and Pan-American Pigment Cell and Melanoma communities is exemplified by service as a secretary/treasurer or council member of the PASPCR, secretary of the IFPCS and past membership in the Steering Committee of the MSR. He served as the Chairman of the Continuing Education and Research Committee of the American Society of Dermatology and, in 2018, was elected as the Full Member of the World Academy of Sciences. In 2009, Dr. Slominski received Commander Order of Polonia Restituta and Cross of Freedom and Solidarity in 2021 for his activity as a student and young intellectual to end the communist system in the Eastern Europe for which he was expelled from Poland in 1985. His academic track record is marked by discoveries of cutaneous expression of classical hypothalamic and pituitary hormones, discoveries of cutaneous serotoninergic and melatoninergic systems, and defining the skin as a neuroendocrine organ. Most important is the discovery of new seco/steroidogenic pathways activated by CYP11A1 that represent alternative to classical activation of vitamin D with multiple products that are biologically active and circulate in the human body. Furthermore, his group discovered that lumisterol can be activated by CYP11A1 and CYP27A1 to a number of biologically active products. These findings break the current dogmas and are ground breaking in vitamin D biology and photobiology with far reaching implications in other areas of medicine. Furthermore, they have identified alternative nuclear receptors for the action of different forms of vitamin D and lumisterol, which open new exciting areas for research and informative for the success of this application. Dr. Slominski is board certified in pathology and has strong expertise in animal models of cancer, melanomas in particular.

Education

  • MD, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland
  • PhD, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland
  • Postdoc, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT

Research Interests

  • Positive regulation of melanin pigmentation by precursors to melanogenesis, L-tyrosine, and L-DOPA
  • Neuroendocrine functions of the skin
  • Discovery that resident skin cells can produce serotonin and melatonin with their further metabolism to biologically active molecules
  • Defining skin as the corticosteroidogenic organ
  • Discovery of a novel 7∆steroidogenic/sterologenic and secosteroidogenic pathways

Recent Publications

  • Slominski AT , Kim TK, Qayyum S, Song Y, Janjetovic Z, Oak ASW, Slominski RM, Raman C,  Stefan J, Mier-Aguilar CA, Atigadda V,  Crossman DK, Golub A,  Bilokin Y, Tang EKY, Chen JY, Tuckey RC, Jetten AM, Song Y, Vitamin D and lumisterol derivatives can act on liver X receptors (LXRs), Sci Rep, 2021 Apr 13;11(1):8002. PMID: 33850196; PMCID: PMC8044163.
  • Slominski AT, Hardeland R, Zmijewski MA, Slominski RM, Reiter RJ, Paus R. Melatonin: A cutaneous perspective on its production, metabolism and functions. J Invest Dermatol 2018;138:490-499. PMCID: PMC5828910.
  • Slominski AT, Li W, Kim T, Semak I, Wang J, Zjawiony J, Tuckey RC Novel activities of CYP11A1 and their potential physiological significance. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 2015;151:25-37. PMCID: PMC4757911.
  • Slominski AT, Kim TK, Hobrath JV, Janjetovic Z, Oak ASW, Postlethwaite A, Lin Z, Li W, Takeda Y, Jetten AM, Tuckey RC. Characterization of a new pathway that activates lumisterol in vivo to biologically active hydroxylumisterols. Sci Rep 2017; 7:11434. PMCID: PMC5595834.
  • Skobowiat C, Slominski A. Ultraviolet B (UVB) activates hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in C57BL/6 mice. J Invest Dermatol 2015;135(6):1638-48. PMCID: PMC4398592
  • Complete List of Published Work (>400 papers) in My Bibliography: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=slominski+a

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