Sonia Lee
Biography
Sonia Lee, M.D., is Associate Professor, Clinical X series, in the Department of Radiological Science at the University of California, Irvine. She received her M.D. from The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine and completed fellowship training in musculoskeletal imaging, nuclear medicine, and abdominal imaging/ultrasound at the University of California, San Francisco. Lee's clinical and research focus centers on oncologic imaging, particularly rectal cancer staging and colorectal malignancies.
Lee serves as Education Subcommittee Lead of the Society of Abdominal Radiology (SAR) Rectal and Anal Cancer Disease-Focused Panel, where she has contributed to developing standardized reporting templates and lexicons for rectal cancer MRI staging. She is Associate Editor of Current Problems in Cancer and has served as a reviewer for multiple journals including Abdominal Radiology, where she received Distinguished Reviewer awards from 2020 to 2023. Her research examines health disparities in cancer imaging, including studies on racial and socioeconomic inequities in access to diagnostic and staging imaging for rectal, cervical, and endometrial cancers.
Lee has authored over 41 peer-reviewed publications on topics including rectal cancer MRI staging, lipomatous tumor characterization, and musculoskeletal quantitative imaging. She serves on the UC Irvine School of Medicine Committee on Curriculum and Educational Policy and leads the radiology team for the Colorectal Tumor Board. Lee has mentored numerous medical students and residents, supervising multiple grant-funded research projects including NIH T35 awards and UCI Dean's Scholar grants. She completed the RSNA Value of Imaging through Comparative Effectiveness (VOICE) Program and the ACR Radiology Leadership Institute's "Maximizing Your Influence and Impact" program.
Return to topDistinctions
- RSNA 2022 education exhibit awarded Cum Laude, identified for Radiographics, 2022
- Abdominal Radiology Distinguished Reviewer award, 2020-2023
- Radiographics Editor's recognition award for reviewing with distinction, 2025
- SAR Rectal Anal DFP scientific oral presentation awarded with distinction, 2023
- ARIN's Linda Strangio Award for publication, 2022
- Outstanding poster, Innovations in Medical Education Conference (IME) annual meeting, 2025
- Southern California Super Doctors, 2022-2024
- Physicians of Excellence, Orange Coast Magazine/Orange County Medical Association, 2022-2024
Areas of Expertise
- Abdominal Oncologic Imaging
- Rectal Cancer MRI Staging
- Musculoskeletal Quantitative MRI
- Hip Osteoarthritis Cartilage Assessment
- Health Disparities in Cancer
- Lipomatous Tumor Differentiation
- Rotator Cuff Fatty Infiltration
Recent Publications
- B. Le, A. Lo, G. Sadigh, J. Zell, S. Lee, “Disparities of Distant Metastasis Evaluation Imaging for Rectal Cancer” (opens in new tab), Journal of the American College of Radiology, vol. 22, pp. 990-997, 2025.
- S. Lee, S. Palmquist, J. Ma, H. Kaur, “Rectal MR Imaging” (opens in new tab), Radiologic Clinics of North America, vol. 63, no. 3, pp. 419-434, 2025.
- File B, Lee S, Bristow R, “Growing teratoma syndrome with extra pelvic metastasis and gliomatosis peritonei” (opens in new tab), Gynecologic Oncology Reports, vol. 58, pp. 101731, 2025.
- Lo, B. Le, J. Colin-Escobar, A. Ruiz, J. Creps, R. Kampalath, S. Lee, “Disparities in Diagnostic Imaging for Initial Local Staging for Rectal Cancer” (opens in new tab), Journal of the American College of Radiology, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 154-164, 2024.
- D. Kaakour, G. Hagopian, S. Lee, F. Lee, “Durable Responses in Patients With Advanced Cholangiocarcinoma on Sequential Dual-agent Immunotherapy After Progressing on Single-agent Immunotherapy” (opens in new tab), American Journal of Clinical Oncology Cancer Clinical Trials, vol. 45, no. 10, pp. 410-414, 2022.
Most Cited Publications
- S. Lee, L. Nardo, D. Kumar, C. R. Wyatt, R.B. Souza, J. A. Lynch, C. McCulloch, N.E. Lane, S Majumdar, T. M. Link, “Scoring Hip Osteoarthritis using MR Images (SHOMRI): a Novel Hip Whole Joint Osteoarthritis Evaluation System” (opens in new tab), Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, vol. 41, no. 6, pp. 1549-57, 2015.
- S. Lee, R. Lucas, D. Landsdown, L. Nardo, A. Lai, T. Link, R. Krug, C.B. Ma, “Magnetic Resonance Rotator Cuff Fat-fraction and its Relationship with Tendon Tear Severity and Subject Characteristics” (opens in new tab), Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, vol. 24, pp. 1442-1451, 2015.
- Lee S, Kassam Z, Baheti AD, Hope TA, Chang KJ, Korngold EK, Taggart MW, Horvat N, “Rectal cancer lexicon 2023 revised and updated consensus statement from the Society of Abdominal Radiology Colorectal and Anal Cancer Disease-Focused Panel” (opens in new tab), Abdominal Radiology, vol. 48, pp. 2792-2806, 2023.
- D.A. Landsdown, S. Lee, C. Sam, R. Krug, B.T. Feeley, C.B. Ma, “A Prospective, Quantitative Evaluation of Fatty Infiltration Before and After Rotator Cuff Repair” (opens in new tab), Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 5, no. 7, 2017.
- Kaur H, Gabriel H, Awiwi MO, Maheshwari E, Lopes Vendrami C, Konishi T, Taggart MW, Magnetta M, Kelahan LC, Lee S, “Anatomic Basis of Rectal Cancer Staging: Clarifying Controversies and Misconceptions” (opens in new tab), Radiographics, vol. 44, no. 7, pp. e230203, 2024.
- Lee S, Surabhi VR, Kassam Z, Chang KJ, Kaur H, “Imaging of colon and rectal cancer” (opens in new tab), Current Problems in Cancer, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 100970, 2023.
Contact Information
Email: sonial6@uci.edu
Phone: (714) 456-7953
Address: Bldg. 1, Route 140
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Last updated on 8/16/2026.