Cody Simmons believes life-saving tech shouldn’t be locked in a specialist’s office. That’s what drew him to DermaSensor, where he’s spent the past eight years as CEO turning a microwave-sized device into the first FDA-cleared, handheld skin cancer detection tool for primary care physicians.
When Simmons joined DermaSensor in 2016, he was a 20-something bioengineer with a Stanford master’s, four years at Genentech, and a burning interest in healthtech. What he didn’t have was a product ready for market–or anything close. The company’s core technology had potential, but the device was bulky, expensive, and unproven. Still, Simmons saw something others didn’t: a path to democratize early skin cancer detection for millions of Americans who never see a dermatologist.
He helped miniaturize the hardware, oversaw 13 clinical studies, and navigated an FDA process that had stumped dozens of other startups. While competitors chased photo-based solutions with high failure rates and limited usability, Simmons’ team followed the science–betting on optical spectroscopy and a product that gave physicians an answer every time, regardless of skin type.
The payoff came in 2024: FDA clearance for the first device to provide automated skin cancer risk assessments for frontline providers. For the first time, a family doctor in rural Iowa–or a busy OB-GYN in Miami–could quickly and non-invasively assess a suspicious mole with a simple point-and-click tool.
The launch was the culmination of a 15-year R&D journey and $25 million in investment. But for Simmons, it was also validation for taking the harder path–resisting calls to focus on dermatologists, holding firm on affordability and ease of use, and listening closely to physicians who wanted actionable data, not complexity. He added a one-to-ten confidence scale, changed output language to avoid panic, and tested abroad to get real-world feedback before U.S. launch.
Now, with growing interest from health systems and practitioners alike, DermaSensor is proving that health equity, access, and innovation don’t have to be at odds. And Simmons is proving what happens when a founder refuses to cut corners–and instead builds something that actually fits the hands that need it.
