After completing residency in anatomic and clinical pathology and a fellowship in dermatopathology, Dr. Messina was a member of the faculty at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine in Tampa from 1994-2013, where she was Professor of Pathology and Dermatology. She is currently Senior Member in the Departments of Anatomic Pathology and Cutaneous Oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center. Her passions include teaching and mentoring of pathology and dermatology residents, as well as the dermatopathology fellow, and running a busy diagnostic service with over 1,500 new melanoma patients annually. She has been director of the dermatopathology fellowship at USF since 2011. Dr. Messina's research interests include pathology of the sentinel node, biomarkers of prognosis in cutaneous melanoma, and etiology and treatment of Merkel cell carcinoma. Dr. Messina has published over 150 papers in peer-reviewed journals. Her research covers pathologic evaluation of sentinel lymph nodes, special applications of sentinel lymphadenectomy, and molecular studies of spectrum of melanocytic neoplasia. Dr. Messina completed her MD at the University of South Florida College of Medicine and a Bachelor of Arts in Molecular Biology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.