Amy R. Vandiver, MD, PhD

Amy Vandiver, MD, PhD

HS Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Dermatology

Languages

English

Education

Fellowship

STAR Program, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 2022

Internship

Internal Medicine, Medstar Harbor Hospital, Maryland, 2018

Degrees

PhD, Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, 2017
MD, Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, 2017
BA, Princeton University, New Jersey, 2008

Residency

Dermatology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 2022

Board Certification

Dermatology, American Board of Dermatology, 2022

Contact Information

Scientific Interests

Dr. Vandiver's work focuses on the role of acquired mitochondrial genome mutations in age-related pathology, particularly skin cancer and frailty following cancer treatment. Aging is a primary risk factor for malignancy and poor treatment outcomes. Acquired mutations in the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) are a primary hallmark of tissue aging, however the impact of these events on cancer risk and outcomes are poorly understood, largely due to techonological limitations in identifying age-rleated mitochondrial mutations and a lack of in vitro models to test their impact. Her lab uses novel sequencing approaches to identify age-related mitochondrial mutations in aging human tissue and in vitro models to understand the impact of these events on progenitor cell function, with a particular focus on aged skin and the keratinocyte carcinomas.

Highlighted Publications

Vandiver AR, Thomas BJ, Karimzada M, Knowles BC, Botten GA, Spreafico R, Rotman JN, Gharavi NM, Chestnut C, Wesel K, Mangul S, Soriano T, Scumpia PO. Detection of Viral Gene Expression in Risk-Stratified Biopsies Reveals No Active HPV in Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Exp Dermatol. 2021 May 25. doi: 10.1111/exd.14385.

Vandiver AR, Pielstick B, Gilpatrick T, Hoang A, Vernon HJ, Wanagat J, Timp W. Long read mitochondrial genome sequencing using Cas9-guided adaptor ligation. Mitochondrion. 2022 Jul 1;S1567-7249(22)00051-4. doi: 10.1016/j.mito.2022.06.003.

Vandiver, A. R., Hoang, A. N., Herbst, A., Lee, C. C., Aiken, J. M., McKenzie, D., Teitell, M. A., Timp, W., & Wanagat, J. (2023). Nanopore sequencing identifies a higher frequency and expanded spectrum of mitochondrial DNA deletion mutations in human aging. Aging cell, 22(6), e13842. https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.1384.

Vandiver, A. R., Herbst A., Stothard P., Wanagat J. Chimeric mitochondrial RNA transcripts predict mitochondrial genome deletion mutations in mitochondrial genetic diseases and aging. Genome Research. 2025 Jan 22;35(1):55-65.

Vandiver, A.R., Torres A Jr, Sanden A, Nguyen TL, Gasilla J, Doan MT, Martirosian V, Hoang A, Wanagat J, Teitell MA. Increased mitochondrial mutation heteroplasmy induces aging phenotypes in pluripotent stem cells and their differentiated progeny. Aging Cell. 2025 Mar 24(3):e14402.