Binh Ngo, M.D., Medical Director
Binh Ngo, M.D.
Dr. Binh Ngo is Associate Professor of Clinical Dermatology at the Keck University of Southern California School of Medicine.She completed her undergraduate degree at UCLA. She spent a number of years in Omaha, Nebraska where she completed her M.D. degree in 2003 at the University of Nebraska School of Medicine. She returned to Los Angeles to pursue a residency in Internal Medicine at USC Los Angeles County Medical Center and then entered the residency training program in dermatology at Harbor-UCLA. She was Chief Resident in Dermatology there in 2007-2008. Dr. Ngo joined the dermatology faculty at the Keck USC School of Medicine in July of 2008. During her years in Nebraska, she partnered with Dr. Rendell in research studies in microvascular disease of the skin. Their joint publications defined the concept of diabetic cutaneous microangiopathy, showing that the skin suffers from the same diabetic microvascular disease as the eyes and kidneys. This work helped explain the susceptibility of diabetes patients to develop foot ulcers and other skin problems.
At Keck USC School of Medicine, Dr. Ngo is very active in the dermatology teaching program.. She received the faculty teaching award for excellence in residents teaching in 2010. She is a mentor to medical students and to residents over the years, transmitting her enthusiasm for learning and for research.
She is a valued speaker giving lectures to residents at USC, UCLA and Harbor-UCLA. Every year, she volunteers her time to offer residents a course to prepare them to take the very rigorous dermatology board exams to certify them as diplomats in dermatology. Her course attracts dermatology trainees from all three major teaching programs in Los Angeles.
Dr. Ngo succeeds in all three of the pillars of medical school faculty excellence: teaching, research, and clinical care. Her clinical practice at Keck USC is among the busiest, where she is Director of Cosmetic Dermatology. She describes her work in artistic terms: “I see what I do as creative, not on canvas, not on marble, but what is most important to us, our own natural features”. Dr. Ngo performs surgery on skin cancers, and wants the results to be not only successful in removing malignancy, but also to be aesthetically pleasing. She uses the tools of cosmetic dermatology, lasers, skin peels, and fillers to diminish the impact of the inevitable surgical scars.
It is her interest in skin cancer which led her to engage with Dr. Burton Eisenberg and Dr. David Peng in an extremely successful institutional collaboration with Hoag Presbyterian Hospital in Newport Beach. Orange County has one of the highest incidence rates of melanoma in the country. To address this most deadly form of skin cancer, Hoag has developed an advanced skin cancer program in conjunction with Orange County dermatologists and with the Keck School of Medicine of USC. This program is designed to offer individuals with complex skin malignancies treatment usually requiring trips to distant academic medical centers.
In collaboration with Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at USC, the Hoag High Risk Melanoma Clinic offers a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach to the evaluation and treatment of this increasingly common malignancy as well as other advanced skin cancers. “Our clinic brings the community the full resources of Keck USC”, Dr. Ngo explained.” She further continued, “We have advanced, innovative medical device such as the Fotofinder to map moles on the entire body, which we don’t even have at USC.”
In addition, Dr. Ngo utilizes modern day techniques of gene analysis to help distinguish which moles may be developing in melanomas and to predict which melanomas might become aggressive and spread. “Melanoma is often a familial disease. When we see a patient with melanoma we try to get to know the entire family, so that we can be on the lookout for suspicious moles. We try to test family members for inherited genes which may predispose to melanoma,” she elaborated. Her interest in familial melanomas has led to a collaboration with Dr. Henry Lynch who is considered the father of the concept of familial cancer. Together, they try to find genetic clues to the development of the familial atypical mole malignant melanoma syndrome (FAMMM).
Dr. Ngo tries to get to know family members of her melanoma patients and to have them tested. Although the Hoag –Keck U.S.C Melanoma Clinic focuses mainly on melanoma, Dr. Ngo makes herself available to offer care to family members who may have other less serious skin problems and not have access to a dermatologist. She has established a clinic (Faculty Dermatology) close to Hoag Hospital where she can see family members and always be vigilant for the development of skin cancer.