Computational elucidation of melanoma initiation and progression

This thesis investigated critical questions of melanoma initiation and progression through computational analysis of omics data. It identified and characterised novel human epidermal melanocyte subpopulations using scRNA-seq to understand how normal melanocytes transform into malignant cells. Genomic sequencing data derived from patient melanomas were interrogated to uncover mechanisms underlying the onset and progression of specific melanoma subtypes, with implications for improving clinical diagnosis, prognosis, and patient management. Additionally, the study analysed multiple layers of omics data to elucidate how advanced-stage melanomas evolve, driving disease progression and metastases.