Olivia L. Lee

Biography

Olivia L. Lee, M.D., is Health Sciences Professor and Director of the Anterior Segment Imaging Laboratory at the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine. She also serves as Program Director of the Cornea Research Fellowship Program and has been an attending ophthalmologist at the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center in Long Beach. Lee received her M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine through the Rice/Baylor Medical Scholars Program and completed fellowships in cornea, external disease, and refractive surgery at the Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA, and in uveitis and ocular immunology at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary.

Lee's research focuses on anterior segment imaging, particularly the application of in vivo confocal microscopy and specular microscopy to evaluate corneal and ocular surface diseases. She has served as principal investigator on numerous funded studies examining ocular graft-versus-host disease, infectious keratitis, and pterygium pathogenesis, including clinical trials for novel therapeutics. Her work has resulted in over 30 peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Cornea, Archives of Ophthalmology, and Translational Vision Science & Technology. Lee has mentored more than 60 medical students, residents, and postdoctoral fellows, and has directed cornea fellowship programs at UCLA and UC Irvine.

Lee has presented over 190 invited lectures nationally and internationally and has received multiple best paper awards at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meetings. She serves on numerous professional committees, including the American Academy of Ophthalmology Online Education Committee and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Cornea Clinical Committee. Lee is an active member of the Cornea Society, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, and the Foster Ocular Immunology Society. She has contributed to international volunteer medical missions in Indonesia, China, and Mongolia, providing surgical training and patient care in underserved regions.

Education

• B.A. in Psychology, Rice University, 2001
• M.D., Baylor College of Medicine, 2005

Distinctions

• The White House Presidential Scholars Program, 1998
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute/NIH Internship Awardee, 1998
• LEO Award, AAO, 2022
• Faculty Teaching Award, UCI Department of Ophthalmology, 2022
• 20/20 Pilot Research Award, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, 2023
• Film Festival Winner: Category New Producer, ASCRS Symposium, 2012
• Achievement Award, AAO, 2018
• Louise J. Girard Award for Ophthalmic Research, 2009
• Outstanding Scholastic Achievement in Biomedical Science, American Heart Association, 1996
• Southern California Super Doctors, 2022-2025
• Pasadena Magazine Top Doctors, 2012-2016