Lu Q Le, MD, PhD

Lu Le, MD, PhD, is a dermatologist and pioneering scientist in the neurofibromatosis field. He joined UVA Health in 2024 to serve as chair of the Department of Dermatology.

He has expertise in a wide range of dermatologic conditions, including:

• Psoriasis
• Eczema
• Cutaneous lupus
• Acne
• Cutaneous autoimmune diseases
• Skin cancer
• Melanoma
• Neurofibromatosis, Neurofibromatosis Type 1

Dr. Le shares: “My approach working with patients has always been: ‘Listen to your patients. They will tell you how to be a good clinician, how to be a good scientist, and how to be a good teacher.’”

He adds, “I want every patient to know that I have their best interest in mind.”

Dr. Le received both his medical degree and his PhD in microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics from the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

He completed an internship in internal medicine at UCLA/St. Mary Medical Center. He then went to UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas for residency training in dermatology and a postdoctoral fellowship in cancer biology.

Before joining UVA Health, he was a professor of dermatology and held the Thomas L. Shield, M.D. Professorship in Dermatology at UT Southwestern.

A job in college led Dr. Le to medicine. He shares, “There are a lot of engineers and teachers in my family and I wanted to become an aerospace engineer. But I was working in in the laboratory of Dr. Owen Witte, a highly regarded cancer researcher at UCLA, and it sparked my interest in science and medicine.”

He adds, “I was inspired to see how experiments we did in the laboratory can turn into effective treatments that impact many people around the world.”

In addition to caring for patients, Dr. Le and his research team are investigating how early genetic and micro-environmental events interact to regulate tumor development in patients with a genetic disorder called neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). By addressing fundamental, unanswered questions in the neurofibromatosis field, his research could lead to effective therapies for NF1 patients.

A major contribution of Dr. Le’s laboratory has been the generation of novel neurofibromatosis models to decipher what initiates neurofibroma growth and drives their malignant transformation.

While studying NF1, Dr. Le and his research team by chance uncovered the identity of follicular epithelial cells that directly give rise to hair and mechanisms that cause hair to turn gray. These findings could one day help identify possible treatments for balding and hair graying. The research could also provide answers about why we age as hair graying and loss are among the first signs of aging.

Gender

Male

Languages

Vietnamese, English

Age Groups Seen

Adults (21-65)
Older Adults (65+)

Primary Education

University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine

Residency

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Certification

American Board of Dermatology (Dermatology)