Brian Lee, MD,PhD

About Dr. Lee

Dr. Brian Lee is a neurosurgeon with a strong background in brain-machine interfaces whose objective is to develop a practice evenly devoted to patient care and lab research. A key pursuit is the development of a cognitive-based neural prosthesis for paralyzed patients.  He also has experience as a community volunteer and as a filmmaker.

Dr. Lee received a Bachelor of Science degree in psychobiology, cum laude, from the University of Southern California, with a minor in cinema-television. He earned a Ph.D in computational neuroscience from the California Institute of Technology and his medical degree from USC’s Keck School of Medicine. He completed his residency in neurosurgery at USC and holds a fellowship in stereotactic and functional epilepsy from the University of California-San Francisco.

He has conducted extensive research in brain-machine interfaces and has contributed to numerous international publications. Dr. Lee has presented lectures and other presentations throughout the United States and internationally and has served on a number of research committees and editorial boards.

Awards and achievements include multiple awards of the Michael L.J. Apuzzo Prize for Creativity and Innovation; Abstract and Poster Winner, American Association of Neurological Surgeons-Pediatric Section, and North American Neuromodulation Society; USC Football Team Physician Award; selected “Consultant of the Year by LAC+USC Emergency Department; Howard Hughes Medical Institute five-year pre-doctorate fellowship; “Top Graduate Students in the World,” Academy of Achievement; delegate to the 42nd lnternational Achievement Summit in Washington; Salerni Collegium Scholarship; Baxter Foundation Medical Student Research Fellowship; USC Trustee Scholar Full Scholarship.

Dr. Lee is a member of the North American Neuromodulation Society, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Vision Sciences Society, MENSA lnternational, the Society for Neuroscience, American Medical Association, and California Medical Association.

He has volunteered as a Los Angeles Habitat for Humanity construction crew leader; John Muir High School teacher and lab experiment designer and supervisor through the Caltech Community Connection, Pasadena; and as a Supplemental Instruction Leader in biology at USC. He has taught biology at Emmanuel Arts High School and designed and supervised lab experiments through the On-Ramp to Science program, Los Angeles; and mentored high-risk youth at Martin Luther King Elementary in the Los Angeles Joint Education Project, obtaining eye exams and glasses for students with vision problems.

He has served as team neurosurgeon for the USC Athletics and Football Team, and has participated in filming the feature length movie “Ping Pong Playa” with Academy Award-winning director Jessica Yu. He also has produced short films featured at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, and is co-owner of Venom Sportswear LLC and owner and editor of DSL/Cable Webserver.