Nicolas Betancourt

Dr. Nicolas Betancourt

First Year Resident

Start Year

2024

 

What are your career interests?

Adult and Pediatric Dermatology, Surgical Dermatology, Skin Cancer, Oncodermatology, Genodermatoses, Artificial Intelligence, Laser Therapy.

 

Why did you choose Duke for residency training?

Duke Dermatology has a nationwide reputation for developing leaders in this field. With a wide array of training sites, ample research opportunities, subspecialty clinics, and a diverse patient population, including a sizable population of persons with skin of color, Duke has everything I would need to carve out a career that would bring fulfillment to my life. Further, the medium-sized nature of the program with kind, genuine clinical attendings and preceptors gives this program a family feel that is never lacking for support. As I am growing a family of my own, I could hardly think of a better city than Durham to plant roots. It is a city with a lot of heart and seems to be an excellent place to raise a young family. I look forward to serving this new community while growing as a clinician who strives to develop individualized, compassionate care to all of my patients.

 

Education & Training

Undergraduate: University of Pennsylvania, BA in Biology, Class of 2016

Graduate: Arizona State University, MEd in Secondary Education, Class of 2018

Medical School: Stanford University School of Medicine, MD, Class of 2023

Internship: Internal Medicine, Kaiser Permanente San Francisco, 2023 - 2024

Residency: Dermatology, Duke University,  2024 - 2027

 

Awards & Honors

 

  • Outstanding Senior, LMSA Stanford University School of Medicine January 2023 Received this award after being nominated and voted on by the LMSA student body at Stanford University during my final year of medical school
  • Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award, El Centro Chicano y Latino, Stanford University  June 2022 Selected for this award after being nominated by my peers and mentees for my contributions to medical student and undergraduate mentorship throughout the 2021-2022 academic year.
  • Top Ten Best Poster, 37th Medical Student Research Symposium, Stanford University May 2022 The poster, “Healthcare Utilization and Costs in Systemic Therapies for Metastatic Melanoma from 2016 to 2020,” was selected for this award by anonymous judges at the 37th Medical Student Research Symposium at Stanford University for the 2021-2022 academic year. This project was one of ten selected for this award among >65 eligible posters.
  • Featured in Poster Highlight Reel, PeDRA 2021 Annual Conference  October 2021 The abstract/poster, “Assessing Early Clinical Characteristics as Risk Factors for Disease Severity and Genotype-Phenotype Correlations in Gorlin Syndrome,” was among the five selected abstracts out the >75 submitted abstracts to be featured in the Poster Highlight Reel for this 2021 Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance (PeDRA) Annual Conference.
  • Outstanding Poster Award, APHMG 2021 Virtual Conference  May 2021 The poster, “Developing a Curriculum on Race, Ethnicity, and Ancestry in a Medical School Genetics Course,” was selected for this award at the Association of Professors of Human and Medical Genetics 2021 Virtual Conference. I was honored as a co-author, not a presenter.
  • Discovery Grant & Innovation Grant, Stanford Medical Scholars Research Fellowship June 2020-December 2020
  • Education Impact Award, Grand Canyon University  May 2017 Received this award after being nominated by my students upon the review of several classes at Westview High School by Grand Canyon University representatives.

 

Publications & Presentations

Original Publications:

  • Chang ALS, Brown R, Li S, Betancourt N, Teng J. Assessment of Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Pathway Activation in Basal Cell Carcinoma as a New Therapeutic Approach. Am J Dermatopathol. 2024 Apr 23. doi: 10.1097/DAD.0000000000002718. Epub ahead of print.
  • Rikhye RV, Hong GE, Singh P, Smith MA, Loh A, Muralidharan V, Wong D, Sayres R, Phung M, Betancourt N, Fong B, Sahasrabudhe R, Nasim K, Eschholz A, Matias Y, Corrado GS, Chou K, Webster DR, Bui P, … Lin S. Differences between patient and clinician-taken images: Implications for virtual care of skin conditions. Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Digital Health, 2024 Feb 2(1), 107–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcpdig.2024.01.005
  • Betancourt NJ, Johnson AN, Clawson RC, Ko JM, & Rana JK. Electronic consultation in supportive oncodermatology: a single center retrospective cohort. Dermatology Online Journal, 2024. 30(1).
  • Qian MF, Betancourt NJ, Pineda A, Maloney NJ, Nguyen KA, Reddy SA, Hall ET, Swetter SM, Zaba LC. Health Care Utilization and Costs in Systemic Therapies for Metastatic Melanoma from 2016 to 2020. Oncologist. 2023 Mar 17;28(3):268-275.
  • Betancourt NJ, Sum K, Gorell ES, Tang JY, Chiou AS. Asymptomatic, microscopic hematuria in epidermolysis bullosa: A single center retrospective case series. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2022 Dec;87(6):1419-1421. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2022.08.030
  • Betancourt N, Qian M, Pickford J, Bailey-Healy I, Tang J, and Teng J. Gorlin Syndrome: Assessing Genotype-Phenotype Correlations and Analysis of Early Clinical Characteristics as Risk Factors for Disease Severity. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2022 Jul 1;40(19):2119-2127.
  • Rudman S, Greenblum S, Rajpurohit S, Betancourt N, Hanna J, Tilk S, Yokoyama T, Petrov D, and Schmidt P. Direct observation of adaptive tracking on ecological time scales in Drosophila. Science. 2022 Mar 18;375(6586):eabj7484.
  • Betancourt N, Rajpurohit S., Durmaz E, Kapun M, Fabian DK, Flatt T, and Schmidt P. Allelic polymorphism at foxo contributes to local adaptation in Drosophila melanogaster. Molecular Ecology. 2021 Jun;30(12):2817-2830
  • Durmaz ., Rajpurohit S, Betancourt N, Fabian DK, Kapun M, Schmidt P, and Flatt T. A clinal polymorphism in the insulin signaling transcription factor foxo contributes to life-history adaptation in Drosophila. Evolution. 2019 Sep;73(9):1774-1792.

Book Chapters:

  • Betancourt, N. & Zaba, L. “Chapter 31: Skin Cancer and Pregnancy.” Skin Cancer: A Comprehensive Guide, McGraw-Hill. 2023 Feb 17:411-422.

Oral Presentations:

  • Betancourt, N.#, Qian, M., Pickford, J., Bailey-Healy, I., Tang, J., and Teng, J. Assessing Early Clinical Characteristics as Risk Factors for Disease Severity and Genotype-Phenotype Correlations in Gorlin Syndrome. The submitted abstract was selected for inclusion in the poster presentation highlight reel, presented as a previously recorded 5-10 minute oral presentation at the 2021 Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance (PeDRA) Annual Conference, October 15, 2021, Virtuala
  • Betancourt, N.# A Case of Numerous Concentric Polycyclic “Wood-Grain” Plaques. Presented as a 15 minute virtual presentation at Stanford Dermatology Grand Rounds on May 19th, 2022, Palo Alto, CA.
  • Maloney, N.J.#, Betancourt, N., Barnes, L., Wong, C., So, N., Centkowski, S., Aleshin, M. A case of numerous concentric polycyclic “wood-grain” plaques. Presented at Pacific Dermatology Association Annual Meeting, Resident Case Symposium, July 29, 2022, Portland, OR.

Poster Presentations:

  • Betancourt, N.#, Johnson, A., Clawson, R., Ko, J., and Rana, J. Electronic Consultation in Supportive Oncodermatology: An Effective Triage Tool? 37th Annual Stanford Medical Student Research Symposium, May 5, 2022, Berg Hall, Stanford University School of Medicine.
  • Qian, M.*,#, Betancourt, N.*, Pineda, A., Maloney, N., Nguyen, K., Swetter, S., and Zaba, L.   Healthcare Utilization and Costs in Systemic Therapies for Metastatic Melanoma from 2016 to 2020. 37th Annual Stanford Medical Student Research Symposium, May 5, 2022, Berg Hall, Stanford University School of Medicine.
  • Bernstein, J.#, Popejoy, A., Edwards, J., Betancourt, N., Krishnan, A., Lachenauer, A., Li, G., Tanner, J. Developing a Curriculum on Race, Ethnicity and Ancestry in a Medical School Genetics Course, 2021 ABE/APHMG Virtual Meeting, May 2021.
  • Betancourt, N.#, Sum, K., Gorell, E., Tang, J., and Chiou, A. Benign Hematuria in Epidermolysis Bullosa: A Case Series of Pediatric and Adult Patients. 2021 Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance (PeDRA) Annual Conference, October 15, 2021, Virtual
  • Betancourt, N.#, Pickford, J., Bailey-Healy, I., Tang, J., and Teng, J. Gorlin Syndrome: Exploring Genotype-Phenotype Correlations and Further Analysis of Clinical Characteristics. 2020 Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance (PeDRA) Annual Conference on October 23, 2020, Virtual
  • Betancourt, N.#, S. Rajpurohit, E. Durmaz, T. Flatt, and Schmidt, P. Allelic variation at foxo underlies adaptive life history differences for specific traits in Drosophila melanogaster. 2016 annual Symposium on Undergraduate Research in Biology (SURB) poster session, April 29, 2016.

* Co-first authors