David Leffell

David J. Leffell, MD, was born in 1956 in Montreal, Canada. He is the David Paige Smith Professor of Dermatology and Surgery,^[1] chief of Dermatologic Surgery and Cutaneous Oncology,^[2] and Deputy Dean for Clinical Affairs at Yale University School of Medicine [1]. Dr. Leffell is also the chief executive officer of the Yale Medical Group [2], one of the country’s largest academic medical group practices.

Leffell is an internationally recognized expert in skin cancer and the Mohs technique, plastic reconstruction, and new technologies in dermatology. He specializes in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer,^[3]

Research

While still in medical training, Leffell developed and patented a laser method for measuring the aging of skin.^[4] With Douglas Brash and others he has also published work that clarifies the genetic basis of the cancer-causing ultraviolet rays of the sun.^[5] This work represented proof that an environmental agent could directly be linked to a genetic injury that causes cancer . Leffell was a member of the international team that discovered the PTCH, a tumor suppressor gene that plays a critical role in the development of hereditary and sporadic basal cell cancer.^[6] He shares patents for the PTCH gene^[7] and PTCH protein.^[8] Leffell also invented a simple office-based method for the treatment of vitiligo, a depigmenting disorder for which treatment is otherwise limited.^[9]

Publications

Dr. Leffell is the author or co-author of more than 100 publications, book chapters, and other media. He is an editor of the world’s leading textbook of dermatology, Fitzpatrick’s Dermatology in General Medicine. He is also author of Manual of Skin Surgery (English and Chinese editions) and the author of Total Skin: The Definitive Guide to Whole Skin Care for Life, a “user-friendly” book intended to educate the general public about skin health. The book, originally published by Hyperion in 2000 is now available as an ebook Totalskinandhealth. He has held editorial positions with many dermatology journals, including the Archives of Dermatology, The Journal of Dermatologic Surgery and Oncology, and Medical & Surgical Dermatology and is on the editorial board of Faculty of 1000. Leffell also appears extensively in print, on television, on the radio and on the web.

Yale Medical Group

Leffell has held successive leadership positions in the clinical practice at Yale since 1998. The group practice currently includes more than 800 full-time Yale School of Medicine faculty physicians who practice in more than 60 locations throughout the state of Connecticut. Leading a team of operations and strategic executives he has focused on developing a patient-centered approach in a large, complex specialty organization.^[10] In 2010, with colleagues at Yale New Haven Hospital, he led the selection of Epic as the electronic medical record for Yale School of Medicine and the Yale New Haven Health System. Leffell reported on the effort in the CEO Newsletter of the Yale Medical Group.

Education

Dr. Leffell received his undergraduate degree from Yale College where he was on the editorial board of the Yale Daily News. He returned to Montreal to attend McGill University Faculty of Medicine where he received his MD, CM degree in 1981. Leffell completed residencies in internal medicine at Cornell Cooperating Hospitals and in dermatology at Yale New Haven Hospital. At Yale, he also completed a post-doctoral research year as a National Institutes of Health research fellow. Following his residencies, he completed a fellowship in advanced dermatologic surgery at the University of Michigan. Dr. Leffell began the Dermatologic Surgery and Cutaneous Oncology program at Yale in 1988.

References

1. ^ http://dermatology.yale.edu/faculty/leffell.html
2. ^ "Home , Dermatologic Surgery: Yale School of Medicine". Dermatology.yale.edu. http://dermatology.yale.edu/dermsurg/. Retrieved 2010-10-07. 
3. ^ http://www.yalecancercenter.org/answers/download/pdf/Answers_July_1_07.pdf
4. ^ http://www.google.com/patents?id=kUM5AAAAEBAJ&dq=david+leffell
5. ^ "Working Knowledge". Sciamdigital.com. http://www.sciamdigital.com/gsp_qpdf.cfm?ISSUEID_CHAR=C7D4F6CD-C085-4348-9EEA-791A8AB977C&ARTICLEID_CHAR=C18BCFC0-102A-4E84-B565-9F8EBE2B60E. Retrieved 2010-10-07. 
6. ^ "The role of the human homologue of Drosophila patched in sporadic basal cell carcinomas - Nature Genetics". Nature.com. 1996-09-01. http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v14/n1/abs/ng0996-78.html. Retrieved 2010-10-07. 
7. ^ http://www.google.com/patents?id=ckAOAAAAEBAJ&dq=david+leffell
8. ^ http://www.google.com/patents?id=joCpAAAAEBAJ&dq=david+leffell
9. ^ "Surgical therapies, part II: flip-top transplants in vitiligo - McGovern - 2001 - Dermatologic Therapy - Wiley Online Library". Google.com. 2001-12-20. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1529-8019.2001.014001015.x. Retrieved 2010-10-07. 
10. ^ "Making practice perfect: Medicine@Yale, May / June 2008". Google.com. http://www.medicineatyale.org/v4i2_may_june_2008/lifelines.html. Retrieved 2010-10-07. 

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Name	Leffell, David
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Date of birth	1956
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