Alumni

Mary Carberry

Former Senior Clinical Trials Research Coordinator

Mary served as a Senior Clinical Trials Research Coordinator for the Melanoma Research Program from 2006 to 2022. During her 16-year tenure, she trained junior coordinators, oversaw numerous clinical trials, managed IRB protocol submissions, developed and maintained clinical trial databases, and coordinated biospecimen collections.

Mary has since retired and now enjoys spending time with her family and volunteering in her community.

Sean Grasso-McClain

Former Biospecimen Research Coordinator

Sean Grasso-McClain served as the Biospecimen Research Coordinator for the Melanoma Research Program from 2022 to 2024. In this role, he managed blood and tissue specimen collections, screened and enrolled melanoma patients into research studies, performed clinical data entry, and assisted with IRB protocol submissions.

Sean has since transitioned to public service and is now a Homeland Security Planning Coordinator with the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management.

Nyree Harper

Former Program Coordinator

Nyree served as Program Coordinator for the Tara Miller Melanoma Center and Executive Assistant to Dr. Schuchter from 2022 to 2024. In this role, she organized numerous Center events, managed Dr. Schuchter’s travel, calendar, and expenses, and provided administrative support to Ahron and the leadership team.

Alex Mathew

Former Clinical Trials Research Coordinator

Alex served as a Junior Clinical Trials Research Coordinator for the Melanoma Research Program from 2022 to 2024. In this role, he coordinated multiple clinical trials, coordinated biospecimen collections, enrolled patients into research studies, performed clinical data entry, and assisted with IRB protocol submissions.

Alex has since advanced his career and is now a Research Director at the University of Chicago.

Wei Xu, MD, MBE

Former Research Project Manager

Dr. Xu served as Research Project Manager for the Melanoma Research Program from 2011 to 2020. During her tenure, she managed and coordinated multiple research initiatives and oversaw biospecimen operations for two cycles of the SPORE in Skin Cancer grant. She also played a pivotal role in developing a comprehensive melanoma patient research database, which has supported numerous high-impact publications in leading journals such as Nature and Nature Medicine.

Today, Dr. Xu is the Director of Clinical Research in the Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Pennsylvania/Penn Medicine.

Cathy Zheng

Former Clinical Research Coordinator

Cathy Zheng served as a Clinical Research Coordinator for the Melanoma Research Program from 2018 to 2020. In this role, she screened and enrolled melanoma patients into research studies, managed blood specimen collections, performed clinical data entry, coordinated tumor board meetings, and assisted with IRB protocol submissions.

Cathy is now continuing her medical career as an Internal Medicine resident at the University of Miami.