Remco van Doorn is a dermatologist and principal investigator at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), with a special focus on melanoma research. In addition, he is affiliated with the Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital.

More information about Remco van Doorn

Remco van Doorn is a dermatologist and principal investigator at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), with a special focus on melanoma research. In addition, he is affiliated with the Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital.

Melanoma research

Melanoma is a malignant tumor originating from melanocytes, the pigment-producing cells residing in the skin. Due to its propensity to metastasize and increasing incidence, melanoma is clinically the most relevant tumor type in the dermatological field. Hereditary factors and exposure to ultraviolet radiation determine the risk of developing melanoma. LUMC has a large melanoma clinic and is the nationwide referral centre for hereditary melanoma.

The primary objective of the chair is to enhance the management of cutaneous melanoma through translational research. This involves using insights from genomics, cell biology, and immunology to devise novel diagnostic, preventive, and therapeutic strategies, particularly in early-stage melanoma and familial melanoma.

Melanoma patient care is multi-disciplinary, requiring close collaboration between dermatologists, surgeons, oncologists, pathologists and radiologists. For managing a large population of patients with hereditary melanoma due to CDKN2A gene mutation there is longstanding collaboration with clinical geneticists at LUMC. In addition, early diagnosis of melanoma and stratifying patients at high risk of metastasis for adjuvant treatment are a prime concern.  

Current studies focus on several complementary areas. The first area is investigating cellular senescence in melanocytic nevi as a target for pharmacological treatment. Congenital nevi and dysplastic nevi can be precursors for melanoma. The cells that constitute nevi exist in a state of senescence that is associated with specific therapeutic vulnerabilities that might be targeted to eliminate these lesions. 

A second area of research concerns investigating the role of inactivation of the CDKN2A gene in melanoma development. CDKN2A is the major melanoma susceptibility gene encoding the p16 and p14 tumour suppressor proteins. Findings from this research may help develop prevention and treatment strategies for hereditary melanoma. 

Contribution to research on innovations in clinical melanoma care constitutes another area. This involves collaborative studies on skin image data analysis for diagnosis, DNA methylation biomarkers for prognosis and adjuvant approaches for treatment of melanoma.

In addition, the activities involve teaching dermatology, skin oncology and cutaneous biology to residents and students in the field of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Scientific career

Following PhD studies on cutaneous T-cell lymphoma at Leiden University, I investigated melanoma genomics at the Netherlands Cancer Institute and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. As an academic dermatologist at LUMC, I have been involved in basic, translational and clinical studies on melanoma. For my research studies I have received support from KWF Dutch Cancer Society (medical specialist fellowship), Dutch Research Council (genomics fellowship), Melanoma Research Alliance (young investigator award), KiKa Foundation and Leiden Center for Computational Oncology. Currently, I serve as a board member of the European Society for Dermatology Research and as chair of the Dutch Society for Experimental Dermatology. 

My areas of interest are melanoma genomics, cellular senescence and clinical dermatology. 
On January 1st of 2024 I was appointed as professor at Leiden University, with the inaugural lecture on November 15th 2024.