W. P. Andrew Lee, M.D., is chief of the division of plastic and reconstructive surgery and professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and is one of the world's foremost experts in tissue allograft and hand transplantation.
As the Sterling Bunnell Traveling Fellow for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) in 2003, Dr. Lee visited and examined 11 of the 14 patients who had confirmed hand transplants since 1998. He was the principal author of a position paper of the ASSH, which guides physicians and researchers throughout the world on the ethics of proceeding with hand transplantation.
A noted hand surgeon and basic science researcher, he is board certified in general and plastic surgery with research interests in transplantation of composite tissue allografts.
Dr. Lee’s current research is focused on induction of tolerance to composite tissue allografts such as a hand or face transplant, so that transplant recipients would not require long-term medications to suppress their immune systems.
In addition, Dr. Lee pioneered a novel minimally-invasive procedure to treat carpal tunnel syndrome in which patients recover in less time than traditional operations.
Dr. Lee came to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in August of 2002 from Boston where he was associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. At Massachusetts General Hospital, he was director of the Plastic Surgery Research Laboratory since 1991 and chief of hand surgery service in the department of surgery since 1996.
Dr. Lee has received more than 30 awards and honors, including the 1991 Kappa Delta Award from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 1995 Sumner Koch Award from the American Society for Surgery of the Hand and 1998 Bernard G. Sarnat Senior Award in basic science from the Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation. In 2001, he was named one of Boston’s top doctors in plastic surgery by Boston Magazine.
He served as the chairman of the Plastic Surgery Research Council in 2001-2002. He has held multiple offices in national organizations in hand and plastic surgery, including chair of the educational and research grant committees and historian for the American Association for Hand Surgery and the Association of Academic Chairmen of Plastic Surgery. He is serving on the board of directors for the Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation and on the council of the ASSH.
Dr Lee has authored more than 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals and almost 200 textbook chapters, and has been an author or co-author in more than 130 presentations at regional, national and international meetings. In addition, he has served on the editorial boards of Transplantation and Journal of Surgical Research.
A 1979 cum laude graduate in physics from Harvard College, Dr. Lee received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he also completed his surgical residency and microvascular research fellowship. He completed his plastic surgery fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital and his orthopaedic hand fellowship at the Indiana Hand Center.
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