Thomas T. Lee, MD, FAANS, MBA
Chief of Neurosurgery, St. John’s Riverside Hospital

A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Dr. Lee graduated magna cum laude with a BA in biochemistry from UC Berkeley. He graduated as a dean’s scholar from UCLA’s School of Medicine and completed his neurosurgery residency at the University of Miami. Additionally, he received his MBA from George Washington University. He is a board-certified neurosurgeon and an assistant neurosurgery professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He has been St John’s Riverside Hospital’s Chief of Neurosurgery since 2001. He has authored approximately 40 peer-reviewed professional journal articles and book chapters in neuroscience and clinical neurosurgery. 

Dr. Lee received a Certificate of Congressional Recognition citing his “Leadership, Vision, Generosity and Outstanding Contributions to the Fields of Medicine and Neurosurgery.” He has been a Castle & Connelly NY Top Doctor as well as a US News and World Report Top Doctor since 2010.

Dr. Lee has a long record of serving in leadership roles in organizations and their governing boards.  He was Chair of St John’s Riverside Hospital’s Board of Trustees from 2012-2016 and the inaugural chair of its Audit and Corporate Compliance Committee. His deep knowledge of hospital finance and his 20-year tenure on its Finance Committee helped St. John’s through extraordinary financial headwinds faced by critical safety net hospitals. He was the 9th District Councilor of the Medical Society of the State of NY (MSSNY) and still chairs MSSNY-PAC. He has advocated for public health and other healthcare issues for 20 years at the state and federal levels, including spearheading the passage of the NY State surprise medical bill into law. As MSSNY’s Finance Committee chair, he completed a comprehensive internal audit to improve operations and finances.  Recently, Dr. Lee assumed the role of the Executive Vice President of MSSNY, and transitioned IT and membership database to improve its operational efficiency, restructured and realigned internal operational and human resource, enhanced traditional and social media communications with internal and external stakeholders, initiated programs to retain and recruit members, instituted non-dues revenue programs, and expanded the organization’s legislative advocacy programs at both the state and federal levels to achieve legislative and regulatory victories.  Dr. Lee was president, then chair of the Westchester Community College Foundation Board and chaired its Audit Committee.  As such, he oversaw the recruitment of a new executive director as well as CFO, regularly reviews performances of senior employees, helped to transition the Foundation’s investment account to an outsourced CIO model, and selected a new external auditor. He has been on the New York DOH Board for Professional Medical Conduct since 2011 and has served as its chair since 2020.  In this regulatory role, Dr. Lee and the DOH protect patients and preserve process integrity. He also worked on the Audit Committee and subsequently Finance Committee of the Federation of State Medical Boards to improve its internal control and financial performance.