Early Self-Detection and Prevention of Melanoma

Stephen Fine, founder and president of the Melanoma Education Foundation, attended colleges in the Boston area, receiving a doctorate in chemistry from Northeastern University. He then moved to Pennsylvania, completing a year of postdoctoral research at Lehigh University. After 5 years as Assistant Professor of Organic Chemistry at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, he moved back to New England where he served in technical and management positions in high tech chemical companies.

Shortly after his son, Dan, died of melanoma in 1998 at the age of 26, he founded the non-profit Melanoma Education Foundation and, since 2000, has devoted full time to the Foundation. 

The primary activity of the Foundation has been educating high school and middle school wellness teachers about melanoma and providing them with free online lessons to educate their students about self-detecting melanoma while it is curable. 

Prior to the pandemic over 1700 schools in all 50 U.S. states and Canada were using the lessons, resulting in saved lives of students, teachers and their loved ones. Recently outreach was expanded to U.S. and Canadian Rotary clubs in Eastern, Atlantic, and Central time zones. Since mid-2022 over 400 virtual sessions on early self-detection and prevention of melanoma have been conducted. 

Steve is a member of the Rotary Club of Peabody, Massachusetts.