Dr. Sean M. Lee, MD FACS SURGEON

Dr. Sean Lee was born and raised in the suburbs of Seattle, Washington. Growing up, he was active in various sports including basketball, golf, tennis, and snow skiing. Dr. Lee attended Cornell University for his undergraduate studies, then went on to the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut where he received his Medical Doctorate. He spent a fifth year at Yale performing research in bone marrow-derived stem cells, with the support of a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Dr. Lee completed his residency in general surgery at Duke University in North Carolina. While there, Dr. Lee decided to focus his clinical work toward bariatric surgery. He was drawn to bariatrics due to its proactive nature. Rather than responding to a severe disease or injury after it occurs as in most surgical specialties, bariatric surgery addresses obesity early in its course and can prevent, improve, or even resolve multiple other diseases related to obesity. Being able to partner with patients to affect a dramatic positive change in their health, and seeing how their lives change for the better was extremely rewarding.

In his final year of residency, Dr. Lee met Dr. Justin Clark when Dr. Clark started his fellowship in Bariatric and Minimally Invasive Surgery at Duke. The following year, as Dr. Clark moved on to Anchorage, Dr. Lee began his specialty training in the same program at Duke.

In 2016, Dr. Lee became the head of the Center for Obesity and Metabolism at Augusta University, and facilitated the bariatric surgery program’s recognition as an MBSAQIP bariatric surgery Center of Excellence. Dr. Lee was inducted into the American College of Surgeons in 2018.

Dr. Lee has learned that obesity is not a cosmetic problem suffered by those lacking self-control. It is, rather, an increasingly common, potentially lethal disease affecting millions of Americans of all backgrounds, including some of the most disciplined and hard-working people he has known. It is an epidemic with an insidious nature, and one that requires we apply those treatments proven to be safe and effective.

In 2017, Dr. Lee moved to Anchorage to join Dr. Clark as a partner-owner of Anchorage Bariatrics. His current goal is to work with the team at Anchorage Bariatrics to bring the highest quality bariatric and minimally invasive surgical care to the people of Alaska.