Mitchell Stark

Associate Professor Mitchell Stark leads the Skin Cancer Genomics group at University of Queensland's Frazer Institute and Dermatology Research Centre. With 25+ years in melanoma research, his work focuses on genomic signatures in pre-malignant lesions and microRNA biomarkers for cancer progression.

His NHMRC-funded program developed a Genomics Atlas of pre-skin cancer lesions using spatial transcriptomics and whole-exome sequencing. Current projects investigate mitochondrial DNA alterations in peritumoral skin and molecular determinants of sentinel node metastasis.

Research has identified mutation signatures in melanocytic nevi and characterized the genomic landscape of giant congenital nevi. The team also validated circulating miRNA panels for uveal melanoma detection.