I am happy to introduce, Bailey Clark, founder and writer of the Makeover Momma blog, nutritional consultant and trainer for mothers and families – and mother of two. Bailey was willing and able to share her family experience with Melanoma. Below you will learn what she learned from her family members struggle and how she intends to brighten her daughters’ futures by instilling skin cancer awareness in the most essential way.

Bailey Clark and her daughters

As the writer and founder of Makeover Momma, I am constantly studying, learning and loving everything there is to know about skincare. Growing up in South Florida, I always thought that I was naturally a very dark, olive-skinned child (because of our perpetual tans). Even after moving far away from the beach (and deep into the mountains) at an older age, I continued to lie outside in the sun, slathered in baby oil, in pursuit of what I deemed a beautiful tan.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t until I watched my older brother battle melanoma, and my mother, sister and various other family members go through dozens of skin cancer removals, that I began to see sun bathing in a different light (pun intended). In the same way that physicians and doctors wish they could take the movie-star glamour out of smoking, and show cigarette fans the true results of their habit (lung cancer, yellow teeth, etc.), I wish that we could take the appeal out of “glowing” skin. In reality, the “glow” we think tans give us, is actually our skin becoming deadened from sun exposure. After seeing the opened wounds, bright red scars and gnarly stitches (upon the faces of my beloved family members) from having skin cancer removed… the sun began to seem a lot less tantalizing.

I used to use every excuse in the book for wanting a tan. “It makes me look thinner” I would say (but who cares how thin you look, when your face is covered in wrinkles?) “It makes me look healthy,” I would explain (but what is healthy about having a leathery complexion before you’re 40?) Or the best reason of all, “life is short, so I would rather look good and die young.” Let’s just say that after becoming a mother and having two beautiful (pail) girls, my thought process has changed quickly.

Yet, even though I have rehabbed my skin for the past four years (and all of my sun exposure was received as a young child), I continue to schedule bi-annual full-body skin cancer screenings at my dermatologist, and recently had two large biopsies taken out of my back (the scars, of which, will remain with me forever).

In the end, I want to raise my daughters to appreciate a different kind of beauty. A beauty that lets us embrace our natural skin color (no matter the shade), and protect ourselves from the sun (and consequently, our own vanity). Every day I apply a high level of sunscreen to any area of skin that might be exposed (whether rain or shine), and hope to teach my girls to do the same. And no matter how many excuses my friends and family give in defense of their tanning habit (and trust me, I’ve heard them all), I will always have the ultimate response.

“Check back on me in a few decades, and we’ll compare our skin. “

Guest blogging from a careful and experienced MoleMap investor, Mr. George Murphy

MoleMap in New Zealand, the joint venture partner of MoleSafe USA, first came to my attention in 2002.  A colleague of mine and a limited partner in the Taraval Funds, Kenneth J. Kirkpatrick Ph.D., came across the MoleMap business plan, which had placed highly in a nationally promoted business plan contest in New Zealand.  This is the story of how I came to be not only an investor, but also a user of MoleMap, ultimately fully exercising the process from screening to diagnosis to surgical excision of a suspicious lesion.

I made my first trip to New Zealand in 1969, and have been back many times since.  When the first of the Taraval Funds was raised, we resolved to make an investment in New Zealand.  One of our first initiatives in the US was to conceive of and start up, Overread Corporation, a company that transmitted the first digital medical images over the Internet for remote diagnosis.  That venture failed, but gave us some useful insight into the MoleMap business when it came our way.  In addition to understanding what the MoleMap founders were trying to achieve technically and appreciating beforehand the medical need that MoleMap could fill, we also had an appreciation for melanoma the disease.

Melanoma – A Problem Around the World

Some readers might ask why we feel so strongly about the MoleMap/MoleSafe opportunity in melanoma diagnostic screening – because skin cancer is a treatable disease if diagnosed early.  Melanoma, in particular, is an aggressive and often fatal skin cancer with increasing incidence worldwide.  The National Cancer Institute says skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, and melanoma its most deadly form, accounting for 4% of all diagnosed skin cancers.  Melanoma, which usually begins in cutaneous melanocytes – the cells that produce the pigment melanin – is more likely to spread to other body parts, i.e., metastatic melanoma.  In 2008 in the United States, an estimated 68,000 people were diagnosed with melanoma and 8,420 of those died.  The percentage of people in the United States who develop melanoma has more than doubled in the last 30 years.  When detected early, melanoma can be successfully treated with surgery; however, more advanced disease has limited treatment options with a poor prognosis.  Treatment of patients with melanoma in the United States costs about $1.5 billion annually, according to the NCI.

MoleMap Starts Down Under

While a big problem in the US, it is actually worse Down Under – the incidence of melanoma is highest in Australia and New Zealand.  So, not surprisingly, a group of New Zealand dermatologists started MoleMap in 1997 to provide a cost-effective melanoma screening program using the latest imaging technology combined with the expertise of dermatologists.  The founders were compelled to start the company after observing that, despite continuing educational programs promoting sun protection, the number of deaths from melanoma each year was increasing.

MoleMap is now screening tens of thousands of patients each year in Australia and New Zealand.  MoleMap scans and archives images of suspected moles using high-resolution digital imaging, allowing dermatologists to compare moles over time and detect subtle changes that can suggest developing melanoma.  It combines the expertise of dermatologists with the power of digital scanning technology and computers.  MoleMap is generating revenue through multiple centers operating in New Zealand and Australia; and now began an aggressive expansion into the United States (under the trade name, MoleSafe).

MoleSafe is a joint venture between MoleMap New Zealand and CareStation, a New Jersey-based group practice.  The first MoleSafe clinic is operating in Milburn New Jersey, on a train commuter line from New York City.  In addition to seeing local and some patients from across the country, it is a laboratory in which procedures can be established, advertising and promotion tested, and standard protocols developed.  A second clinic has been established in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Others are planned for the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and elsewhere around the country.  A special advisory relationship is being struck with the dermatology department at New York University on Manhattan, which is generally recognized as the leading US center of academic excellence in melanoma.

Investing in a Solution

Upon making our first investment in 2002, my former partner, Bob Balch, took a board seat on the MoleMap board of directors.  The Taraval Funds have made additional investments since.  In recent years, Ken Kirkpatrick has represented the Taraval Funds on the MoleMap board, because he is resident in New Zealand and can more closely monitor our investment.  Bob, Ken and I are all clients of MoleMap.  Early on, I had my MoleMaps during my annual trips to New Zealand, but in May of this year, I underwent my annual MoleMap at a special clinic held by MoleSafe for a week in conjunction with a California Presbyterian Medical Center-affiliated dermatologist in San Francisco.  A melanographer from MoleSafe headquarters in New Jersey conducted my examination.  We re-imaged a lesion that had been noted in the past, one that had become increasingly itchy over the past year or so.  Copies of the report were delivered to me and my dermatologist, Dale Pearlman MD.  The report flagged a suspicious lesion that turned out to be the itchy one!  My dermatologist biopsied it; the pathologist diagnosed it as a Basal Cell Carcinoma that I will have surgically removed later this year.  In a very personal way, I have now fully exercised the MoleMap process.

There is a history of skin cancer in my family.  My father, a career seaman sailing long before sunscreen was invented, had numerous skin cancers throughout his life, especially in his later years.  I’m sure that if he had not died of metastatic prostate cancer, one of his skin cancers would have taken him.  I advise all my siblings and friends to undertake skin cancer screening when it is available to them.

Finally, I have submitted the paperwork to my health insurance company, Anthem Blue Cross, for reimbursement.  While the screening is not generally reimbursable, I am pressing the matter with them.  Perhaps I’ll make another entry to this blog with the outcome of my attempt to get my MoleSafe screen reimbursed.

George Murphy has extensive experience in the management of early-stage ventures and in technology transfer, both as a founder and manager of technology-driven companies and as a technology licensing professional.  As the founding general manager of EndoTherapeutics and EP Technologies, he established a successful track record in commercialization of innovative medical devices.  He has since helped start several biotechnology companies, including AviGenics, ProLinia, and Stem Cell Sciences Pty Ltd. (Melbourne, Australia), and other new ventures in the medical, environmental, and electronics industries. He is an investor for    in    MoleMap, the joint venture partner of MoleSafe.

Mr. Murphy has more than 30 years of technical and business experience.  He holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from Stanford University.