Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and lead physcian Dr. Miguel Reyes-Múgica are the forefront pedatric hospital in the world researching congenital melanocytic growth, including Giant Congenital Melanocytic Nevi (GCMN), and associated disorders such as neurocutaneous melanocystosis (NMC) and pediatric melanoma. These are poorly understood conditions. Due to the rare nature of the disease and diagnosis, medical resources are scarce, and there are very few experts in the world to turn to for treatment and management.

Our laboratory concentrates in the study of the above-mentioned disorders, trying to gain a complete understanding of the disease and to develop treatments for these patients. Babies with NCM are born with large moles (pigmented nevi) and frequently have additional lesions in the brain and its coverings (meninges). Little is known about the biology of these lesions and how they compare with other, more conventional melanocytic proliferations, such as malignant melanoma.  Our past efforts have centered on studying genes associated with familial melanoma, which apparently are not involved in this condition.  Now we are working in collaboration with a number of clinical and surgical researchers, and with the help of the patient support group “Nevus Outreach, Inc.”, we have established the “Gavin Bailey Tissue Repository for Neural Crest Disorders”.  This is a tissue bank for samples derived from patients afflicted with these conditions. Currently, we have accumulated samples from approximately 130 patients afflicted with Giant Melanocytic Nevi, including 22 patients with NCM.

COLLECTIVELY we need your help for future funding and support of the Gavin Bailey Tissue Repository for Neural Crest Disorders. For more information or additional ways to support Dr. Reyes-Mugica's research, please contact Molly Vogel at molly.vogel@chp.edu.