Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University
Born in the Gangwon province of South Korea, Changhee Lee (Stephen) grew up in parts of Canada as well as Auburn, Alabama, before graduating magna cum laude from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering. During his undergraduate years, Stephen conducted research in traumatic brain injury with Dr. Barclay Morrison III, contributing to three publications on cerebral edema and brain tissue biomechanics. Post-college, Stephen joined Dr. Elisa Konofagou’s Ultrasound Elasticity and Imaging Laboratory as a research technician and spent two years contributing to various projects on ultrasound myocardial elastography and pulse wave imaging. He then joined the division of cardiology at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center where he served as a technician conducting cardiopulmonary exercise tests for adult patients with heart failure, congenital heart disease, and pulmonary hypertension. In his final year before joining EnMed, Stephen was recruited to be a research fellow with Dr. Nir Uriel and worked on numerous clinical research projects concerning heart transplantation and durable mechanocirculatory support, presenting his findings at the THT and ISHLT annual meetings.
Stephen, like many of his EnMed colleagues, chose to pursue biomedical engineering with the hope of learning to see medical problems from an engineer’s point of view. And while working directly with patients is still his primary passion, Stephen chose EnMed for the chance to make engineering more than a phase of his life – a part of him that actively contributes to caring for patients in ways that may not have been possible before. He has a particular interest in innovation that improves the delivery of healthcare and eases the burden of living with chronic illness.
Outside of academics, Stephen enjoys spending time with friends and family as well as playing classical music on the piano.
