Chair of Dermatology

We are pleased to announce that Ruth Ann Vleugels, MD, MPH, MBA, will become Chair of Dermatology at Penn Medicine, effective September 1, 2026. Dr. Vleugels joins Penn Medicine from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Mass General Brigham (MGB), where she serves as the Heidi and Scott C. Schuster Distinguished Chair in Dermatology and Senior Medical Director. She is also a Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Vleugels earned her medical degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, completed her internship at BWH, and trained through the Harvard Combined Dermatology Program. She also completed a medical education fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. In addition, she holds a Master of Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Master of Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management—credentials she has applied to advance infusion strategy and virtual care operations for MGB.

An internationally recognized expert in orphan connective tissue diseases, Dr. Vleugels’ research focuses on rare autoimmune skin disorders and emerging therapies. At BWH, she leads major clinical programs for autoimmune skin disease, connective tissue disease, dermatomyositis, and atopic dermatitis. She also co-directs the Rheumatology-Dermatology Program at Boston Children’s Hospital and founded the Dermatology-Rheumatology Fellowship at BWH, the only formal program of its kind in the nation.

Dr. Vleugels brings extensive leadership experience to Penn Medicine. She is past president of the New England Dermatologic Society, immediate past president of the Rheumatologic Dermatology Society, and serves on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Dermatology—the world’s largest dermatologic society, representing more than 20,000 physicians.

Read more here.

Patricia Hastie led this search with Jasmine Miller and Sarah Sweeney.