David Y. Lee, MD, PhD, has been named Director of Radiation Oncology at The University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Dr. Lee was born in Korea and emigrated with his family as a teenager, settling in California. He trained at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine and then completed his residency at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. He joined UNM in September 2012; New Mexico’s mountains, weather and outdoor activities drew him to our state.
Dr. Lee became a physician-scientist in order to bring the latest discoveries and information to his patients. He conducts research in DNA repair and epigenetics and recently won a grant from the Department of Defense to study tumor initiation in acinic cell carcinoma.
Dr. Lee assumed his new role on December 1, 2022.
UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center
The University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center is the Official Cancer Center of New Mexico and the only National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center in a 500-mile radius.
Its more than 136 board-certified oncology specialty physicians include cancer surgeons in every specialty (abdominal, thoracic, bone and soft tissue, neurosurgery, genitourinary, gynecology, and head and neck cancers), adult and pediatric hematologists/medical oncologists, gynecologic oncologists, and radiation oncologists. They, along with more than 600 other cancer healthcare professionals (nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists, navigators, psychologists and social workers), provide treatment to 65% of New Mexico’s cancer patients from all across the state and partner with community health systems statewide to provide cancer care closer to home. They treated almost 15,000 patients in more than 100,000 ambulatory clinic visits in addition to in-patient hospitalizations at UNM Hospital.
A total of nearly 1,855 patients participated in cancer clinical trials testing new cancer treatments that include tests of novel cancer prevention strategies and cancer genome sequencing.
The more than 123 cancer research scientists affiliated with the UNMCCC were awarded $38.2 million in federal and private grants and contracts for cancer research projects. Since 2015, they have published nearly 1000 manuscripts, and promoting economic development, they filed 136 new patents and launched 10 new biotechnology start-up companies.
Finally, the physicians, scientists and staff have provided education and training experiences to more than 500 high school, undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral fellowship students in cancer research and cancer health care delivery.