Victoria S. Lee, MD

Dr. Lee is a board-certified otolaryngologist and fellowship-trained rhinologist and skull base surgeon. She completed her fellowship training at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and her otolaryngology residency at the University of Washington. She earned her medical degree from Northwestern University. She was born and raised in Wisconsin and was excited to return to the Midwest after the completion of her medical training. As a specialist in sinonasal disease, her areas of expertise include nasal obstruction, allergy, sinusitis, nasal polyps, and sinonasal tumors. She is experienced with the latest technological advances in the field and specializes in minimally invasive endoscopic approaches to treat sinonasal as well as skull base and orbital pathology, including pituitary and other tumors, cerebrospinal fluid leaks, blocked tear ducts, and thyroid eye disease. Dr. Lee strives to achieve a patient-centered and multidisciplinary approach to her medical and surgical care. She will work tirelessly to get to the bottom of any problem her patients may have, no matter how complicated.

Dr. Lee is Past President of the Chicago Laryngological & Otological Society. She also serves as an Associate Editor for the International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology and on the Editorial Board for Rhinology. She has served as faculty in rhinology instructional courses nationally and is a member of the American Academy of Otolaryngology Guidelines Task Force Leadership and Rhinology & Allergy Education Committee as well as the American Rhinologic Society Live and Ancillary Education Courses Committee.

Dr. Lee is actively involved in rhinologic clinical outcomes research. A key research focus is exploring the effects of social and environmental factors and biological sex on sinonasal disease. She has published extensively on her research findings. Dr. Lee has received both peer-reviewed and industry funding for her research, including a Triological Society Career Development Award. She was a NIH-funded K12 University of Illinois Chicago Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) Program scholar. Her research on the relationship of ovarian steroids and sinonasal inflammatory diseases is currently funded by a NIH K23 Career Development Award. For her contributions, she was awarded the Triological Society, George L. Adams, MD Young Faculty Award, a prestigious national award given annually to recognize the contributions of a young academic otolaryngologist chosen by a committee of peers and department chairs. She is dedicated to continually translating knowledge gained in the research arena to clinical practice.

Awards

• Centralized Otolaryngology Research Efforts (CORE) Research Award, 2015
• 1st Place Poster Presentation, American Rhinologic Society Annual Meeting, 2017
• 2nd Place Clinical Paper, Rhinoworld Chicago, 2019
• Cures Within Reach “Repurposing Research to Address Racial / Ethnic Health Disparities in the Greater Chicago Area” Award, 2021
• ChicAgo Center for Health and EnvironmenT (CACHET) Pilot Project Award, 2021
• Castle Connolly Top Doctor, 2021-present
• University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine Departmental Faculty Rising Star Award, 2022
• Chicago Chronic Condition Equity Network (C3EN) Research Project Pilot Grant Award, 2022
• Triological Society Career Development Award, 2022
• University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) Program Scholar, 2023
• American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) Cochrane Scholar, 2023
• CS Modern Luxury Magazine: Top Doctors, 2023
• Triological Society, George L. Adams, MD Young Faculty Award, 2024
• Triological Society Mentee, Neely National Clinician-Scientist Mentorship Network, 2024-2026
• Chicago Magazine: Top Docs, 2024-present
• Castle Connolly Exceptional Women in Medicine, 2026
• NIH K23 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award, 2026-2031

Complete List of Published Works: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/victoria.lee.1/bibliography/public/

Education
Board Certification
American Board of Otolaryngology

Residency
University of Washington School of Medicine, Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery

Fellowship
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Rhinology and Skull Base Surgery

Fellowship
University of Washington School of Medicine, Clinical Research (T32), Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery

Medical School
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Scholarly Activities

• Associate Editor, International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology
• Editorial Board, Rhinology

Societies/Committees

• Past President, Chicago Laryngological & Otological Society
• Guidelines Task Force Leadership, Methodologist-In-Training, American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Foundation
• Committee Member, American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Outcomes Research and Evidence-Based Medicine Committee
• Committee Member, American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Rhinology & Allergy Education Committee
• Committee Member, American Rhinologic Society Live and Ancillary Education Courses Committee
• Committee Member, North American Skull Base Society Research Committee

Memberships in Professional Organizations

• Fellow, American Rhinologic Society
• Member, American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery
• Member, American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy
• Member, Triological Society
• Member, North American Skull Base Society
• Associate Member, ChicAgo Center for Health and EnvironmenT (CACHET)

Objectives

Optimizing clinical outcomes in patients with sinonasal conditions:

• Biological sex differences in sinonasal inflammatory diseases
  • Analyze large-scale epidemiological data to characterize biological sex differences in the prevalence, presentation, and outcomes of sinonasal inflammatory diseases.
  • Establish direct associations between ovarian steroid fluctuations and sinonasal disease outcomes using a menstrual cycle model.
• Health disparities and sociodemographic factors affecting sinonasal health
  • Identify socioeconomic barriers that affect access to and receipt of sinonasal healthcare.
  • Assess the association between sociodemographic and home environmental factors and sinonasal disease outcomes.
  • Leverage real-time, objective and subjective data-capture strategies to evaluate the relationship between home environmental exposures and sinonasal symptoms.
• Imaging for surgical planning
  • Identify underreported anatomic characteristics on preoperative imaging that may be clinically relevant to endonasal endoscopic approaches.
  • Define these anatomic characteristics, determine their prevalence, and identify associated clinical and radiographic features.
• Topical therapies
  • Better define the clinical indications for topical therapies and identify factors associated with treatment success.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness, adverse effects, and tolerability of topical therapies in patients with sinonasal disease.
• Biologic therapies for chronic rhinosinusitis
  • Evaluate the efficacy, safety, tolerability, and clinical outcomes associated with novel biologic therapies for chronic rhinosinusitis through participation in industry-sponsored, multicenter clinical trials.

 Assessing the impact of upper respiratory viruses and air pollution in sinonasal disease:

• Development of experimental models
  • Establish and validate the feasibility of an in vitro model for studying the effects of upper respiratory viral pathogens and environmental pollutants on sinonasal disease.
• Characterization of sinonasal immune responses
  • Characterize the cellular and immune responses of distinct sinonasal cell types following exposure to upper respiratory viral pathogens and environmental pollutants.
  • Define how viral and pollutant exposures interact to influence sinonasal inflammatory responses and disease-related pathways.