Rate My Professor Richard Lee

Richard Lee, MD, JD, MBA, serves as Section Chief and Professor in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery within the Department of Surgery at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University. He holds the Ellison Distinguished Chair in Cardiothoracic Surgery. His academic background includes a BA in Political Science and Government from Northwestern University in 1988, an MD from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1993, an MBA in Business Administration, Management, and Operations from Washington University School of Business in 1997, and a JD from Saint Louis University School of Law completed between 2016 and 2020. Dr. Lee is certified by the Georgia Composite Medical Board since 2018. Prior to his appointment at Augusta University in 2018, he co-directed the Center for Comprehensive Cardiovascular Care at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

Dr. Lee's clinical expertise and research interests focus on mitral and tricuspid valve repair, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), mitral clip procedures, and atrial fibrillation management. His scholarship addresses key areas in cardiothoracic surgery, including comprehensive transcriptomics and proteomics analysis of neointima formation in human saphenous vein grafts and implications for bypass graft disease (2026), modified Del Nido microplegia to reduce intraoperative, postoperative, and total blood products in cardiac procedures (2026), and the role of neddylation and Cullin 3 in adipocyte differentiation (2024). Additional recent publications encompass a case report on four papillary fibroelastomas with mixed features on a single aortic valve (2023), commentary on characteristics of traditional pathway applicants to cardiothoracic surgery (2023), and perspectives on left atrial appendage ligation during robotic mitral valve repair (2024). He contributes to medical education by teaching courses such as Basic Surgery Clerkship (SURG 5000), Surgery Sub-I in Cardiothoracic Surgery (SURG 5007), and Thoracic & Cardiac Surgery Externship (SURG 5325).