Overview
A board-certified dermatologist, Suephy C. Chen, MD, MS, is an internationally recognized expert in cutaneous melanoma and pigmented lesions as well as teledermatology. Dr. Chen’s research interests include melanoma and teledermatology; she also studies the quality of life impact of dermatologic conditions, most recently, itch. She has been continuously funded by the Veterans Administration, National Institutes of Health, and numerous foundations.
Dr. Chen was named chair of the Department of Dermatology effective January 4, 2021. Before joining the Duke faculty, Dr. Chen was Vice Chair and Professor of Dermatology at Emory University. Under her helm, the Pigmented Lesion Clinic at Emory was one of the first in the country to incorporate and study the impact of total body digital photography in the care of patients with atypical nevi. She also served as director of the Emory Dermatology Center for Outcomes Research and Safety and as director of TeleDermatology for the Regional TeleHealth Service of the VA Southeast Network.
Dr. Chen graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1989 and received her medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1993. She completed her medicine internship at the Beth Israel Hospital in Boston and her dermatology residency at Emory University in 1997. She obtained a Master’s in Health Research and Policy at Stanford University in 2000. Dr. Chen serves on the Board of Directors for the Society of Investigative Dermatology.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Publications
Correction: Rethinking the use of population descriptors in dermatology trials and beyond: disentangling race and ethnicity from skin color (Archives of Dermatological Research, (2025), 317, 1, (728), 10.1007/s00403-025-04219-6)
Journal Article Archives of Dermatological Research · December 1, 2025 The article “Rethinking the use of population descriptors in dermatology trials and beyond: disentangling race and ethnicity from skin color”, written by Valerie M. Harvey, Jenna C. Lester, Tarannum Jaleel, Junko Takeshita, Amy J. McMichael, Yvette Miller- ... Full text CiteRacial Differences in Work Relative Value Units for Outpatient Pediatric Dermatology Visits.
Journal Article JID Innov · November 2025 Measures of clinical productivity may tilt financial incentives toward providing care to specific patient populations, reinforcing inequitable care. Race, sex, and age have been shown to influence differences in work relative value units (wRVUs) generated ... Full text Link to item CiteTransgender individuals’ perspectives on teledermatology-based acne research
Journal Article Archives of Dermatological Research · November 1, 2025 Full text CiteRecent Grants
Development of a toolkit to Improve responses to microaggressions in the clinical setting
ResearchMentor · Awarded by American Academy of Dermatology · 2022 - 2023View All Grants