Joyce M. Lee, MD, MPH

Joyce Lee, MD, MPH, is the Robert P. Kelch, MD Research Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Michigan Medical School and Professor at the Medical School and at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Dr Lee attended Brown University for her undergraduate education and the University of Pennsylvania for her medical degree, where she was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honors Society. She completed internship and residency in General Pediatrics at the Boston Combined Residency Program (Children's Hospital, Boston and Boston Medical Center). She completed dual training in Pediatric Endocrinology and Pediatric Health Services Research and received a Master in Public Health from the Department of Health Management and Policy at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Lee is a pediatric translational researcher in the field of Pediatric Endocrinology whose work currently focuses on: 

• Creation of learning health systems using the methods of quality improvement, clinical informatics, and patient-centered participatory design.
• Collaborations with human computing interaction and machine learning/artificial intelligence experts to understand how data can be used to solve real world healthcare problems. 
• Studies of online health communities and patient innovation, and work that supports the integration of the Maker Movement and DIY design into healthcare.

Her research agenda has focused on the overarching areas of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and childhood obesity and she has used a variety of methodologies in her research, including applied clinical research, epidemiologic analyses of nationally representative data, state transition modeling, cost-effectiveness analysis, as well as design and emerging technologies (design ethnography, participatory design, human-centered design, quality improvement science, and digital/social media communications). To date, she has 102 peer-reviewed publications, and is first or senior author on 58 of those publications. Her major research contributions have included studies evaluating recommended screening guidelines for type 2 diabetes for overweight and obese children, studies evaluating the link between overweight and obesity and timing of puberty and chronic disease risk factors, studies focused on quality measurement and quality of care for overweight and obese children, and research in health outcomes for type 1 diabetes. 

In 2009, Dr. Lee was named a Brehm Investigator by the Brehm Center for Type 1 Diabetes Research. In 2012, she was a visiting scholar at in Child Health Policy at Stanford University and in 2015 was a visiting scholar at Google Life Sciences (now Verily). At the 2016 Pediatric Academic Societies meeting, she was the first recipient of the Paul Kaplowitz, MD, Endowed Lectureship for contributions to quality and cost-effective care in Pediatric Endocrinology, an award sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Pediatric Endocrine Society. Finally, she was named the Robert P. Kelch, MD Research Professor of Pediatrics in 2016. 

Dr. Lee’s scholarship has expanded to the creation of Learning Health Systems for obesity and diabetes. To support this work she has completed the Advanced Methods in Quality Improvement course at Cincinnati Children’s (2018), became an Epic Physician Builder (2017), and achieved proficiency in Clarity, the Epic database (2018). She serves as Co-Director of the Momentum Center, a childhood obesity center based at the School of Public Health, and as the Health IT Faculty Champion for the Fast Forward Medical Innovation Team at Michigan Medicine. She also co-leads an interdisciplinary collaborative called HealthDesignBy.Us, which supports the creation of maker movement for healthcare, creating opportunities for patients and caregivers to co-create tools, technologies, and systems for healthcare.

Education

M.P.H., Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan, 2006
M.D., University of Pennsylvania, 2000    
B.A., Brown University,1995

Fellowship

Pediatric Endocrinology, Pediatric Health Services Research, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, University of Michigan, 2003-2006

Residency

Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Boston & Boston Medical Center, Harvard Medical School 2000-2003

Additional Projects

• Elizabeth Weiser Caswell Diabetes Institute - Informatics and Clinical Research Innovation
• Childhood Obesity Research Core (CORC)
• JDRF Center of Excellence at the University of Michigan
• T1D Exchange Quality Improvement Collaborative