Boris C. Bastian MD, PhD

Dr. Boris Bastian is a dermatologist who specializes in diagnosing skin diseases at the microscopic level. At the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, he is director of the Clinical Cancer Genomics Laboratory, which analyzes cancerous tissues to determine targeted treatments for individual patients.

In his research laboratory, Bastian studies tumors that arise from melanocytes, pigment-producing cells in the skin and other organs. He also explores how moles form and what makes some moles cancerous, with the goal of developing objective algorithms to assess tumor growth and tailor treatment to the individual.

Bastian earned his medical degree and a doctorate degree in medical sciences from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. He then completed a residency in dermatology at the University of Würzburg. At UCSF, he did a fellowship in dermatopathology and a post-doctoral fellowship at the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. He then joined UCSF's faculty in 1999 and started his own research laboratory in the Cancer Center.