Rate My Professor Sun Young Lee

Sun Young Lee, MD, PhD, is a tenured Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Physiology and Neuroscience at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. A board-certified retina surgeon, she possesses extensive expertise in diagnosing and managing complex, vision-threatening retinal conditions, including age-related macular degeneration, inherited retinal degenerative diseases, diabetic retinopathy, retinal detachment, and surgical complications. She earned her MD from Pusan National University in South Korea in 1999 and her PhD from the University of Ulsan in South Korea in 2007. Her clinical training encompasses an ophthalmology residency and vitreoretinal surgery fellowship at Asan Medical Center in South Korea in 2007, a postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University in 2010, an ophthalmology residency at the University of Southern California in 2016, and a vitreoretinal surgery fellowship at the University of Iowa in 2018.

Dr. Lee's laboratory investigates the role of extracellular vesicles in the pathogenesis and treatment of retinal diseases. She leads the development of extracellular vesicle-based intraocular therapies, representing a novel approach to targeted drug delivery, gene therapy, and regenerative medicine for blinding retinal disorders such as age-related macular degeneration, inherited retinal diseases, and diabetic retinopathy. As Principal Investigator, she holds National Eye Institute grants including R01EY034193 (2024-2029) for extracellular vesicle-based intraocular therapy targeting ocular neovascularization, R21EY035425 (2023-2025) for extracellular vesicle therapy in diabetic retinopathy, and R56EY034193 (2022-2024). Additional roles include Vision Disorder Lead for the USC Alpha Clinic Network Expansion for Cell and Gene Therapies (CIRM IFFR4-13878, 2023-2027) and Scholar in the USC Roski Eye K12 Clinician-Vision Scientist Training Program (NIH/NEI K12EY028873). Her achievements include the Alcon Research Institute Young Investigator Award (2023), American Society of Retina Specialists Fellow (2024), Women in Retina/ASRS Mina Chung Research Award (2021), Presbyterian Health Foundation Clinician Scientist Development Award (2019), and The Retina Society Fellowship Research Award (2017). Notable publications comprise "A perspective from the National Eye Institute Extracellular Vesicle Workshop: Gaps, needs, and opportunities for studies of extracellular vesicles in vision research" (J Extracell Vesicles, 2024), "Dynamics of microRNA secreted via extracellular vesicles during the maturation of embryonic stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium" (J Extracell Biol, 2024), and "An Eye on Extracellular Vesicles: Trends and Clinical Translations in Vision Research" (Ophthalmol Sci, 2025).