Associate Professor, Religion, Spirituality, and Society and Bioethics
Prof. Lee is an Associate Professor of Religion, Spirituality & Society, and Bioethics at the University of Puget Sound. She earned her PhD in Religion and Society, specializing in Social Ethics, with a Graduate Certificate in Teaching Writing, from Boston University. She also holds a Master of Bioethics from Harvard Medical School, a JD with a concentration in Health Law from Seattle University School of Law, a Master of Arts in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary, and a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in music from Duke University.
Her interdisciplinary expertise encompasses bioethics, public health, health law, biotechnology, and religion, with a focus on immigrant health, reproductive ethics, medical racism, health equity, and the intersection of religion and medical practices. In Fall 2024, she served as a Visiting Associate Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine at the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School. She has co-chaired the Religion, Spirituality, and Bioethics Affinity Group (2014–2020) and the Baccalaureate Bioethics and Humanities Educators Affinity Group (2020–2023) at the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, as well as the Bioethics and Religion Group (2020–present) at the American Academy of Religion. Additionally, she is a steering committee member for the Religion, Medicine, and Healing Group (2021–present) and the Artificial Intelligence and Religion Exploratory Session (2024–present) at the American Academy of Religion. She has served on the Institutional Review Board at Partners Healthcare, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and as a member of the Optimum Care Committee at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Her publications include studies on Korean traditional prenatal care, the spiritual meaning of organ donation, and vaccine religious exemptions. She has received the 2024 Thomas A. Davis Teaching Award from the University of Puget Sound and the Outstanding Teaching Award from Boston University. Her current research focuses on prenatal care within immigrant communities, moral conflicts related to religious teachings on reproductive ethics, and the role of artificial intelligence in healthcare.