Dr. Lee received her DDS and MS in oral biology from the UCLA School of Dentistry and her MD from Harvard Medical School. She completed her residency in oral and maxillofacial surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, following which she was a post-doctoral fellow in NIDCR. She subsequently joined the faculty at UCSF, where she rose through the ranks to become a Professor of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery and was recruited back to the NIDCR, where she is now the Clinical Director and Chief of the Craniofacial Anomalies and Regeneration Section. She has received much recognition for her work on behalf of clinical researchers, including leadership roles at the NIH, and she was among the few women in the USA chosen to participate in the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program (ELAM). In September 2020, she was appointed as Deputy Director for Intramural Clinical Research to support clinical research and clinical researchers and clinicians at the NIH.

Dr. Lee brings expertise in surgery as well as outstanding translational research and continues her pioneering studies on craniofacial developmental anomalies and novel prediction tools.