Chris Lee, MD, PhD, MBA

Dr. Lee graduated with honors from Wuhan University School of Medicine (WUSM) in Wuhan, China. Afterward, Dr. Lee enrolled in the Surgical Residency Training-Ph.D. Combined Program at Peking (Beijing) University Medical School, Beijing, China where he excelled in the National Graduate Entrance Examination and passed a competitive Doctorate Qualification Exam. During this period, Dr. Lee was awarded the National Sinorama Prize (First Place) for outstanding surgical resident-PhD students in China. He was the Principal Investigator and recipient of a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). Dr. Lee also earned an Executive MBA from Business School at Washington University in January 2021

Upon completing his residency, chief residency, and Ph.D. in bioengineering, Dr. Lee remained at the third teaching hospital of Peking University Medical School as faculty and attending surgeon in the Department of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery.

After a 5-year Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship under the mentorship of Professor Steven Teitelbaum, M.D., in the Department of Pathology at Washington University School of Medicine, Dr. Lee completed a 2-year residency in Internal Medicine, followed by a 3-year residency in anesthesiology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital at Washington University.

In 2001, Dr. Lee joined as faculty in the Department of Anesthesiology at WashU as an attending anesthesiologist. He is currently an associate professor and ABA board-certified anesthesiologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital at WashU. Between 2002 and 2009, Dr. Lee underwent extra ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia training at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle (6-week Mini Fellowship), the University of Toronto (one-week Observation Program), Duke University Medical Center (one-week Observation Program), among other hospitals and ASA USRA Workshops. Dr. Lee’s major clinical interests include perioperative anesthetic management in complex spinal surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedic & geriatric surgery, trauma, difficult airway management, conventional & ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia (USRA), OB anesthesia, and acute and postoperative pain management.  

In October 2008, Dr. Lee coordinated and co-sponsored the first ultrasound-guided regional block and central line placement workshop at WashU with Vice Chairman, Dr. Ivan Kangrga. Since then, it has been standard practice at WashU.

Dr. Lee’s actively involved in basic and clinical research and residency education. He has published over thirty articles and abstracts, as well as authored or co-authored eleven books and book chapters in the field of anesthesiology (in English and Chinese).

Dr. Lee is a member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), Missouri Society of Anesthesiology (MSA), and QA & QI Committee in the Dept. of Anesthesiology at WashU. Dr. Lee has been POD 2 Clinical Leader since 2013, covering Anesthesia for Orthopedics, Spine Surgery, Plastic Surgery, and Trauma Service. He loves reading, jogging, dancing, and spending time with family.