CAPT Rees Lee was born and spent his childhood in Sacramento, California. He attended Stanford University on an NROTC scholarshiwhere he earned degrees in Biology B.S. – honors) and Psychology B.A. Following college graduation, he spent 5 years as a Line Officer serving consecutively as Communications Officer and Navigator on USS GOLDSBOROUGH DDG 20) and Training and Readiness Officer for Destroyer Squadron 35, both units homeported in Pearl Harbor, HI. CAPT Lee deployed twice to the Persian Gulf in support of Operations Earnest Will, Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He is a qualified Surface Warfare Officer. In 1991 CAPT Lee transferred to the Medical Corps and received a Navy scholarshito return to Stanford University for medical school. He graduated from Stanford with honors and continued his medical education at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth NMCP) as a Pediatric intern and resident. He spent 3 years at Naval Hospital Oak Harbor NHOH) as a general pediatrician followed by completion of a Pediatric Pulmonology fellowshiat the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in 2005. CAPT Lee is Board Certified in both Pediatrics and Pediatric Pulmonology. He is a member of the American Thoracic Society and a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Chest Physicians. CAPT Lee has served in a variety of leadershipositions throughout his career including NMCP Cystic Fibrosis Center Director, NMCP Medical Staff President and Chairman of the military’s largest Pediatrics Department and Pediatric Residency at NMCP. From September 2013 to June 2014, CAPT Lee was the acting Executive Officer of the hospital shiUSNS COMFORT T-AH 20) followed by a 2 year assignment as the Executive Officer of Naval Medical Research Unit Dayton NAMRU-D) He remained at NAMRU-D as the fourth Commanding Officer serving from 2016 to 2018, leading a team of military and civilian scientists advancing research knowledge in Aerospace Medicine, Human Performance and Toxicology. CAPT Lee most recently served as the Force Surgeon for Commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic, overseeing the medical staffs on 120 ships and shore commands, including 8 afloat trauma hospitals, caring for 27,000 Sailors from the U.S. East Coast to Europe and the Middle East. In addition to his 2 deployments as a Line Officer, CAPT Lee deployed in 2008 with USS BOXER LHD 4) providing humanitarian assistance to Guatemala, El Salvador and Peru as part of Operation Continuing Promise; and deployed to the NATO Role 3 Combat Trauma Hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan, as the Senior Medical Officer 2010-2011. CAPT Lee has an extensive research portfolio including collaborations with Vanderbilt University’s Center for Asthma and Environmental Sciences Research as well as being Government Sponsor of the Health Outcomes Research Center of Excellence, a public-private cooperative research program which uses Military Health System data to analyze healthcare outcomes. His personal awards received while serving in the military include two Legion of Merit, two Meritorious Service Medals, five Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals one with the combat valor device) and two Navy Achievement Medals. Following retirement from the Navy in October 2021, Dr. Lee joined the University of Arizona as an Associate Professor in Pediatric Pulmonology and provides clinical care at Diamond Children’s Hospital in Tucson, Arizona, part of the Banner Health network.