Dermatological Center for Skin Health

Dr. Delphine J. Lee

Dr. Delphine J. Lee is the Chief of Dermatology and Residency Program Director at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center located in the South Bay, as well as the Director for the Dermatology Service Line for the Department of Health Services for Los Angeles County.  She leads her immunology research team at the Lundquist Institute to investigate how to help your immune system fight cancer and improve outcomes for people with autoimmune diseases.  

Dr. Lee was the former Director of the Carolyn Dirks and Brett Dougherty Laboratory for Cancer Research and Department of Translational Immunology at John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. While at John Wayne Cancer Institute, Dr. Lee led the effort to expand the biorepository at JWCI and developed new collaborative projects in skin cancer, breast cancer, and other solid tumors to investigate relevant immune pathways important for fighting cancer. Her work investigating immunologic mechanisms is potentially relevant to a broad spectrum of solid malignancies, including breast cancer, melanoma, and gastrointestinal cancers. Her group is also bringing new approaches to personalized medicine, with translational research projects investigating the potential role of the human microbiome on host immunity to improve therapies including cancer and inflammatory skin conditions. 

Recruited from her previous position at UCLA as the former Director of Cutaneous Autoimmune Diseases (Immunobullous diseases clinic and Non-immunobullous disease/Connective tissue disease clinic), Dr. Lee has expertise in autoimmune skin diseases, including vitiligo, pemphigus, pemphigoid, skin lupus, dermatomyositis, and other complex rashes as well as in general dermatology. Dr. Lee has been awarded several grants for her work in dermatology and immunology, including the relationship between vitiligo and melanoma. Her NIH-funded research investigated how the immune system functions in the skin. Her most recent accolades include awards from the Eastwood Charitable Fund, California Breast Cancer Research Program and The Kenneth T. Norris and Eileen L. Norris Foundation to carry out cutting edge research at The Lundquist Institute, where she is the Director of the Cancer Biology and Immunotherapeutics Institute. 

Dr. Lee is Past-President for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Dermatological Society, as well as a member of several medical and scientific organizations such as the Association of Professors in Dermatology, Society for Investigative Dermatology, American Association of Immunologists, American Dermatological Association, and Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer. Nationally renowned, Dr. Lee is a leader in her field and has been a reviewer for a number of Dermatology and other scientific journals, served several years as a standing study section Reviewer and Chairperson for the NIH, as well as reviewing for the DOD.  She also serves on the American Board of Dermatology's Board of Directors as well as The Lundquist Institute's Board of Directors.