Thay Lee, PhD

Dr. Lee received his undergraduate degree at University of California, San Diego at Revelle College with a BS in Bioengineering. He then obtained his MS in Applied Mechanics at University of California, San Diego. He received his PhD in Biomaterials from Gothenburg University in Sweden.

Dr. Lee joined the Department of Veterans Affairs and University of California, Irvine in 1987 and established an Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratory based at the VA Long Beach Healthcare System. In addition to establishing a highly productive state of the art orthopaedic biomechanics research program, he consistently moved up the ranks at the VA and the University of California. Dr. Lee held a rank of Professor Step VI and served as the Vice-Chair for Research and Academic Affairs in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at University of California, Irvine. He also held a title of Senior Research Career Scientist with the Department of Veterans Affairs RR&D.

After 30 years in Academics, Dr. Lee moved his entire staff and laboratory to Pasadena, California to join Congress Medical Foundation. Dr. Lee is continuing his work in orthopaedic biomechanics while focusing on innovation and education according to academic standards. Throughout his career, Dr. Lee has advised over 100 post-doctoral fellows, many developing into well recognized leaders in orthopaedics and holding prominent positions in professional subspecialty societies, as well as at their academic institutions both nationally and internationally.

Dr. Lee serves a leadership role in many professional societies and organizations. Most notably, he is a scientific member in the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) currently serving as Chair of the Research Committee. Dr. Lee serves as the Deputy Editor for Basic Science for the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery and an International Editor for the Clinics in Orthopaedic Surgery. He serves as a reviewer for the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, American Journal of Sports Medicine, Arthroscopy, Clinical Biomechanics, Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, Journal of Biomechanics, Annals of Biomedical Engineering and many others.

Dr. Lee also served in numerous government and non-profit organizations as a Grant Reviewer including the VA Rehabilitation Merit Review, the NIH, the Extremity War Trauma Foundation/ Airlift Foundation, the Swiss National Science Foundation, and the National Sciences Engineering Research Panel.

The primary contribution of Dr. Lee has been the development of research methods and models to biomechanically evaluate shoulder and other joints. His honors and awards are too numerous to detail but of note is that he is a two time “The Neer Award” winner and “Bernard Morrey Award” winner which are the most prestigious awards given by the American Shoulder & Elbow Surgeons. Dr. Lee was also selected as a fellow at the prestigious American Society of Mechanical Engineering and then as a fellow as the esteemed American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Dr. Lee has published over 300 peer reviewed manuscripts and over 500 abstracts in orthopaedic biomechanics. He continues to lecture widely both nationally and internationally.