Raymond J. Cho

Dr. Cho investigates the molecular basis of skin disease. He currently develops single-cell molecular fingerprints of unusual skin diseases to identify effective immunomodulatory therapies, in collaboration with the laboratory of Dr. Jeffrey Cheng.

Dr. Cho's group first reported NOTCH as the most commonly mutated gene in squamous cell cancers of the skin, SUFU loss-of-function as a basis for hereditary infundibulocystic basal cell cancer syndrome, and recurrent mutation of the ZNF750 tumor suppressor in sebaceous carcinoma. His lab also jointly identified APOBEC mutagenesis as the driver for cancer formation in recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, an inherited blistering disease.

Receiving both his MD and his PhD in Genetics from the Stanford University School of Medicine, Dr. Cho led the earliest demonstrations of transcriptional profiling, genetic screens, and SNV-based mapping on a whole-genome scale. He subsequently co-founded Ingenuity Systems, a privately funded genetic content and software concern later wholly acquired by Qiagen N.V.

Dr. Cho has been recognized with the American Academy of Dermatology Young Investigator Award and the Samsung Global Research Outreach Award. He was the Abby S. & Howard P. Milstein Research Scholar in Melanoma and received a Career Development Award from the Dermatology Foundation. He lectures at UCSF and at the Structure and Function of the Skin series in the American Academy of Dermatology's Annual Meeting.