Skip to main content
Find a DoctorGet Care Now
Skip to main content
Search icon magnifying glass

Contrast

Contact

Share

Donate

MyChart

Help

Dr. Richard Edelson of Westport named a national physician of the year

3/8/2012 — Richard L. Edelson, MD, chief of dermatology at Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale School of Medicine since 1986, will be honored later this month as one of three "National Physicians of the Year" at the seventh annual Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. National Awards in New York City.

Dr. Edelson and two other physicians were chosen by a committee of medical peers from among 150 nominees from around the country for excellence in clinical medical practice and tireless work in their respective field of medicine.

Dr. Edelson, the Aaron B. and Marguerite Lerner Professor of Dermatology at YSM, has also served as director of Yale Cancer Center (YCC), director of YCC's lymphoma research program and YSM deputy dean for clinical affairs. Dr. Edelson received his medical degree at the Yale School of Medicine and completed his internship in internal medicine at the University of Chicago and his residency in dermatology at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Edelson is an internationally-recognized pioneer in the research and treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), a commonly lethal cancer originating in the skin and spreading throughout the body. He identified and characterized this cancer, and his research group played a central role in deciphering the basic properties of CTCL cells in order to develop effective therapies.

Dr. Edelson developed extracorporeal photochemotherapy (ECP) for CTCL patients in clinical trials at Yale Cancer Center. ECP, the first FDA approved selective immunotherapy for any cancer, has been used more than 3 million times worldwide to treat CTCL, organ transplant rejection and graft-versus-host disease, the major complication following bone marrow transplantation.

Castle Connolly Medical is best known as the firm that publishes the "Top Doctors" series of books and as the producer of the Top Doctors database that appears on the website of U.S. News and World Report. The organization, whose mission is "to help consumers find the best healthcare in America," was founded in 1991.

Similar Articles

5/15/2025

Yale New Haven Health announces the finalists for the Health AI Championship

New Haven, CT (May 15, 2025) – On May 27, the Yale New Haven Health (YNHHS) Center for Health Care Innovation will host the Health AI Championship, a premier competition designed to showcase groundbreaking applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare. The competition invited innovators from health systems and hospitals across Connecticut to develop AI-driven solutions that address critical challenges in patient care and healthcare operations.

5/1/2025

More than 850 Yale New Haven Health physicians are ‘Top Doctors’

New Haven, CT (May 1, 2025) – A total of 870 Yale New Haven Health (YNHHS)-affiliated physicians have earned a spot on Connecticut Magazine’s 2025 Top Doctors list. The list includes physicians from Bridgeport, Greenwich, Lawrence + Memorial and Yale New Haven hospitals, as well as Northeast Medical Group and Yale Medicine and surpasses the more than 700 providers achieving “Top Doc” status last year. The list will appear in the May issue of Connecticut Magazine.

4/11/2025

Yale New Haven Health notifies patients of data security incident

NEW HAVEN, CT, APRIL 11, 2025 – Yale New Haven Health (YNHHS) is notifying patients of a recent data security incident that involved patient information.