David J Leffell, MDCM
David P. Smith Professor of Dermatology and Professor of Surgery (Otolaryngology and Plastic)Cards
About
Titles
David P. Smith Professor of Dermatology and Professor of Surgery (Otolaryngology and Plastic)
Section Chief, Dermatologic Surgery and Cutaneous Oncology
Biography
A graduate of Yale College and the McGill University Faculty of Medicine in Montreal, Leffell completed his residency training in internal medicine at Cornell Cooperating Hospitals and then in dermatology at Yale-New Haven Hospital. He completed an NIH post-doctoral research fellowship in dermatology at Yale followed by a clinical fellowship in dermatologic surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. Author of the popular book "Total Skin," Leffell is an expert clinician, specializing in skin cancer and melanoma diagnosis and surgical treatment using the Mohs micrographic technique. The Cutaneous Oncology Unit that he founded in 1988 now performs specialized surgical treatment on more than 3,500 patients annually. His major clinical interest is the management of skin cancer, including basal cell cancer, squamous cell cancer and melanoma. In 1996 Leffell was a member of the research group that discovered the skin cancer gene known as PTCH. In addition, he has conducted collaborative research clarifying the role of ultraviolet radiation in skin cancer and skin aging. Author of more than 200 publications, Leffell has also done research on epidemiologic aspects of skin cancer and wound healing. Dr. Leffell was the first CEO of the Yale Medical Group (now Yale Medicine) and served as Deputy Dean for Clinical Affairs at Yale for almost a decade.
Appointments
Dermatology
ProfessorPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
- Cutaneous Oncology Program
- Dermatologic Laser Surgery Program
- Dermatologic Surgery
- Dermatology
- Genomics, Genetics, and Epigenetics
- Head and Neck Cancers Program
- Mohs Surgery
- Skin & Kidney Cancer Program
- Yale Cancer Center
- Yale Medicine
Education & Training
- Fellow
- University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI (1988)
- N.I.H Postdoctoral Fellow
- Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (1987)
- Resident
- Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT (1986)
- Resident
- Cornell Cooperating Hospitals (1984)
- Intern
- Cornell Cooperating Hospitals (1982)
- MDCM
- McGill University (1981)
- BS
- Yale College, Biology (1977)
Research
Academic Achievements and Community Involvement
Clinical Care
Overview
David J. Leffell, MD, is an internationally recognized expert in skin health and the founder and chief of the Dermatologic Surgery Program at Yale Medicine. The program, which began in 1988, is a national leader, combining the highest level of patient-focused care with ongoing research into the causes of skin cancer and melanoma.
“I was privileged to be able to pursue my vision of providing exceptional patient care, research and training,” says Dr. Leffell.
Dr. Leffell has treated over 35,000 skin cancer and melanoma patients in his 30-year career. By specializing in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of skin cancer, melanoma and rare skin tumors, he has developed a unique expertise which he has been able to share with generations of future doctors.
Dr. Leffell, a professor of dermatology, plastic surgery and otolaryngology at Yale School of Medicine, derives great satisfaction from the daily opportunity to pass on his knowledge and skill to fellows and other doctors in training. He emphasizes the importance of communication in the doctor-patient relationship. “Everything central to being a doctor flows from that: compassion, understanding, and effectiveness as a healer,” he says.
An internationally known researcher in the field of skin cancer, Dr. Leffell was involved with the discovery of the gene (PTCH) for the most common form of skin cancer, called basal cell cancer.
He has collaborated in research focused on understanding skin cancer in young women. Important new research into why women are developing skin cancer more often than expected was triggered following Dr. Leffell’s observation of the phenomenon. He holds three patents, including one for a laser device which measures aging of skin.
In addition to his clinical and research work, Dr. Leffell has published over 170 papers and has been an editor of the world’s leading textbook of dermatology, Fitzpatrick’s Dermatology in General Medicine. He is the author of Manual of Skin Surgery and Total Skin: The Definitive Guide to Whole Skin Care for Life.
Beauty and creativity also inform his personal life. In his spare time, Dr. Leffell builds furniture from locally harvested wood, and is an avid photographer. He recently published a collection of photographs of northwest Connecticut titled Connecticut Pastoral.
“Art, scientific research and clinical diagnosis—at the microscope or with the patient—all have in common the fundamental element of seeing or extracting a pattern. Once you can see the pattern, you can understand,” says Dr. Leffell.
Clinical Specialties
Fact Sheets
Melanoma
Learn More on Yale MedicineBasal Cell Carcinoma (BCC)
Learn More on Yale MedicineSquamous Cell Carcinoma
Learn More on Yale MedicineSkin Cancer
Learn More on Yale Medicine
Board Certifications
Dermatology
- Certification Organization
- AB of Dermatology
- Latest Certification Date
- 2009
- Original Certification Date
- 1987
Internal Medicine
- Certification Organization
- AB of Internal Medicine
- Original Certification Date
- 1984
Yale Medicine News
Links & Media
News
- May 05, 2023
Yale Dermatologists Named Connecticut’s ‘Top Doctors’
- May 01, 2023
Connecticut Magazine’s 2023 “Top Doctors” issue recognizes 81 Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center physicians
- January 11, 2023Source: WTNH News8
Yale expert familiar with procedure used on First Lady Jill Biden’s skin cancer
- September 08, 2022
Leffell Prize Presented to Michael Caty, MD