He and others identified a crucial molecular abnormality driving the development and maintenance of these tumors a decade ago, and subsequently they have focused on adopting this new information into therapies. The same genetic defect that is responsible for most basal cell carcinomas also plays a role in two pediatric malignancies, medulloblastoma (a type of brain tumor) and rhabdomyosarcoma (cancer of skeletal muscle). The results of one of his clinical studies was published this year in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine (and it acknowledged SAA support).