Jay M. Lee, MD

Academic and Clinical Appointments

• Surgical Director, UCLA Thoracic Oncology Program | Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Member | UCLA Sarcoma Program / Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Associate Professor of Surgery (Tenure Track)
• (Previous) Chief, Division of Thoracic Surgery 
• (Previous) Chief, Section of Thoracic Surgery, Division of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery
• (Previous) Surgical Director | Robert G. Kardashian Center for Esophageal Health
• (Previous) Director | Center for Esophageal Disorders

Additional Education

• Research Fellowship, Thoracic Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1999-2001

Honors and Special Awards

• Super Doctors® Southern California, 2023
• Top Doctors, Pasadena Magazine, 2022
• Top Doctors, Los Angeles Magazine, 2019, 2022
• Super Doctors® Southern California, 2010-2023
• Super Doctors, Pasadena Magazine, 2021
• Top Doctors, Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery, Castle Connolly, 2014-2023
• Top Cancer Doctors, Newsweek Magazine, 2015
• The Hollywood Reporter, Hollywood’s Top Doctors: Best Thoracic and Cardiac Surgeons in Los Angeles, 2014
• UCLA Health Leadership Academy, Advisory Board, 2014
• Alumni of the Year, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital/ Harvard Medical School, 2011, 2012
• Voted Best Doctors, 2009-2011

National and International Service

• 2011-2013 Member, Basic and Translational Science Committee, American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG)
• 2011-2012 Examiner, American Board of Thoracic Surgery (ABTS) General Thoracic Consultant Subcommittee
• 2013-2015 Examiner, American Board of Thoracic Surgery (ABTS) General Thoracic Consultant Subcommittee
• 2013-2015 Examiner, American Board of Thoracic Surgery (ABTS) General Thoracic Oral Board Exam
• 2015-17 General Thoracic Chair, Video Committee, American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS)
• 2016 Thoracic Surgery Co-Chair. Lung Cancer Mutational Consortium 3 (LCMC3). Genentech Trial ML39236.
• 2017-18 Member, Annual Meeting Abstract Committee, American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS)
• 2018-21 Member, Annual Meeting Scientific Program Committee, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
• 2019 Steering Committee/Surgical Chair. Genentech/Lung Cancer Mutational Consortium 4 (Genentech/LCMC4) Trial (NAUTIKA Trial)
• 2018-19 Member, Education Committee, International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC)
• 2019 Steering Committee/Surgical Chair. Novartis/CANOPY-N Trial
• 2019 Member, American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) Foundation Advisory Council
• 2020 Chair, Early Stage/Localized Disease Program Committee.  International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2020 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC)
• 2020 Steering Committee.  Novartis/Lung Cancer Mutational Consortium 4 (Novartis/LCMC4) Trial (GEOMETRY-N Trial)
• 2021 Steering Committee. NeoKAN Trial. 

Scientific Sessions

2010- Discussant; American College of Surgeons 96th Annual Clinical Congress. Surgical Forum - Cardiothoracic Surgery III. Washington, DC.
2011- Moderator; American College of Surgeons 97th Annual Clinical Congress. San Francisco, CA.
2011- Discussant; American College of Surgeons 97th Annual Clinical Congress. San Francisco, CA.
2013- Instructor; Society of Thoracic Surgeons 49th Annual Meeting. Course #8: Novel Techniques in Esophageal and Tracheal Surgery. Los Angeles, CA.
2013- Discussant; American College of Surgeons 97th Annual Clinical Congress. San Francisco, CA.
2014- Moderator (Invited); American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) 94th Annual Meeting. Toronto, ON, Canada.
2014- Discussant (Invited); American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) 94th Annual Meeting. Toronto, ON, Canada.
2015- Instructor; Society of Thoracic Surgeons 51st Annual Meeting. Course #9: Advanced Esophageal and Tracheal Procedures. San Diego, CA.
2015- Moderator, General Thoracic Surgery, American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) 95th Annual Meeting. Seattle, WA.
2016- Instructor; Society of Thoracic Surgeons 52nd Annual Meeting. Course #8: Advanced Open Esophageal and Tracheal Procedures. Phoenix, AZ.
2016- Discussant, General Thoracic Surgery, American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) 96th Annual Meeting. Baltimore, MD.
2016- Moderator, General Thoracic Surgery, American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) 96th Annual Meeting. Baltimore, MD.
2016- General Session Faculty, American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) Annual Meeting. Los Angeles, CA.
2017- Faculty, Focus on Thoracic Surgery: Mastering Surgical Innovation. American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS). Las Vegas, NV.
2018- Faculty, 18th Lung Cancer Targeted Therapies Meeting. International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). Santa Monica, CA.
2018- Faculty, Lung Cancer Immunotherapy Meeting. International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). Madrid, Spain.
2019- Faculty, 19th Lung Cancer Targeted Therapies Meeting. International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). Santa Monica, CA.

2019- Faculty, Annual Meeting, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Chicago, IL.
2019- Faculty, 2019 Annual Mesothelioma Meeting, International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). New York, NY.
2019- Faculty, 2019 World Congress on Lung Cancer. International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). Barcelona, Spain.
2019- Discussant, 2019 World Congress on Lung Cancer. International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). Barcelona, Spain.
2019- Moderator, 19th Lung Cancer Targeted Therapies Meeting. International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). Santa Monica, CA.
2020- Faculty, 20th Lung Cancer Targeted Therapies Meeting. International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). Santa Monica, CA.
2020- Faculty, 73rd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery (JATS). Nagoya, Japan.
2020- Chair, Early Stage/Localized Disease Program Committee. International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2020 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC). Singapore.
2021- Panelist, Therapy for Early Stage NSCLC. 21st Lung Cancer Targeted Therapies Meeting. International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). Virtual.
2022- Chair, Therapy for Early Stage NSCLC. 22nd Lung Cancer Targeted Therapies Meeting. International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). Virtual.

BiographyJay M. Lee, M.D., is the Surgical Director of the Thoracic Oncology Program, and Associate Professor of Surgery (Tenure Track) at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.  He has previously held other leadership positions including Chief, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Chief, Section of Thoracic Surgery, and Surgical Director of the Robert G. Kardashian Center for Esophageal Health.  Dr. Lee's clinical, research, and academic focus is in all aspects of thoracic oncology.  He is an internationally recognized thoracic surgical oncologist, especially in new drug development and clinical trials in lung cancer.

He received his medical degree (M.D.) from UCLA and training in General Surgery at Georgetown and Duke University Medical Centers.  He completed a Thoracic Research Fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and received Thoracic Surgery training at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital Boston at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Lee has published extensively in the field of thoracic oncology and has a funded research laboratory.  His scientific effort has focused on translational trials involving investigator-initiated immunotherapy in human lung cancer and modulation of the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.  He is the Principal Investigator of the “Combined Gene modified dendritic cell therapy and PD-1 inhibition for lung cancer” trial, which is patented at UCLA.

Dr. Lee is on the Steering/Executive Committee of several neoadjuvant trials in resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) including LCMC3 (atezolizumab), CANOPY-N (canakinumab and/or pembrolizumab), NAUTIKA1 (alectinib, entrectinib, vemurafenib plus combimetinib, pralsetinib, or stereotactic body radiation therapy plus atezolizumab), GEOMETRY-N (capmatinib), and Neo-KAN (adagrasib). He is on the Executive Committee of the LCMC4/LEADER trial to define driver mutations in early stage NSCLC.  Dr. Lee is an author on numerous peri-operative clinical trials including LCMC3 and IMPower 010 (adjuvant atezolizumab).

Dr. Lee is Board-certified by the American Board of Surgery (ABS) and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery (ABTS). He is a member of many professional organizations, and serves on leadership committees for the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC).  Dr. Lee serves on several editorial boards of prestigious journals.