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Biography

A surgeon at the leading edge of his field.

Double board certified and double fellowship-trained, Chief of Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital, and the surgeon many physicians refer the cases they find too complex.

Dr. Steven J. Lee is double board certified and double fellowship-trained in Hand & Upper Extremity Surgery and Sports Medicine, and specializes in the most complex disorders of the hand, wrist, elbow, shoulder, knee, and ankle.

He is Chief of Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, and Associate Director of the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma (NISMAT), the first hospital-based facility in the country dedicated to the study of sports medicine and research.

Dr. Lee is perennially recognized as one of New York Magazine's Best Doctors, a Castle Connolly Top Doctor in Orthopedic Surgery, one of America's Top Orthopedists, a U.S. News & World Report Top Doctor, and a New York Super Doctors Hall of Fame honoree.

Training & Education

A foundation built at New York's teaching hospitals.

  1. 01
    Lehigh University / Medical College of Pennsylvania
    Doctor of Medicine, combined 6-year accelerated program
  2. 02
    Stony Brook University
    Residency, Orthopedic Surgery
  3. 03
    NYU / Hospital for Joint Diseases
    Fellowship, Hand & Upper Extremity Surgery
  4. 04
    Lenox Hill Hospital
    Fellowship, Sports Medicine

    One of the oldest and most prestigious sports medicine fellowships in the country.

Athletes & Sports Medicine

Trained at the center of New York sports medicine.

Few orthopedic surgeons are fellowship-trained in both hand and upper extremity surgery and sports medicine. That combination gives Dr. Lee a distinct advantage with athletes, who place far greater demands on a repaired tendon, ligament, or joint, and almost always need to return to their sport on a timeline.

He treats the athlete, not just the injury, tailoring care to the demands of the sport and the timeline to return.

Team Physician & Training Roles
  • Team physician, New Jersey Red Dogs & Gladiators (professional arena football)
  • Team physician, Hofstra University Athletics
  • Care of the New York Jets, Islanders & Rangers during training
Professional Athletes Treated
HockeyFootballTennisSquashGolfBaseballSoccerBoxing & MMA

Especially attuned to collegiate and recruiting athletes: all three of Dr. Lee's children are Division I athletes.

Research & Innovation

Advancing the tools of the field.

Dr. Lee has been a pioneer in orthopedic research and is nationally recognized for innovative techniques to treat the most difficult disorders in orthopedics. He has designed numerous orthopedic implants now in wide use, including among the most advanced plating systems for fracture fixation of the hand, wrist, elbow, and upper extremity. His anchor designs helped pioneer the use of internal bracing for the upper extremity.

He has also helped advance the use of biologics in orthopedic care. Dr. Lee was among the first surgeons in New York City to perform platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, including for upper extremity injuries, and performs more than 250 PRP procedures a year. His work extends to BMAC stem cell therapy and, more recently, peptides. In 2026 he co-authored "Therapeutic Peptides in Orthopaedics: Applications, Challenges, and Future Directions" in JAAOS Global Research & Reviews, believed to be the first peer-reviewed review paper on therapeutic peptides in an orthopedic journal.

Teaching & Academics

A teacher first, recognized by his own residents.

Dr. Lee is actively involved in the instruction of physicians and allied health professionals and frequently teaches courses across the country. He has authored 35+ peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and delivered 84 national lectures and presentations, with particular focus on Achilles tendon repair, the subject of several of his papers, and scapholunate ligament reconstruction. He serves as a journal reviewer for the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

His teaching has been recognized repeatedly by the Lenox Hill orthopedic residents, who have voted him the Chitranjan S. Ranawat Mentorship Award seven times (2010, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023), the James A. Nicholas Award for Distinction in Orthopaedic Residency Education twice (2021, 2022), and the Maurice Cowen Award for Excellence in Medical Education twice (2003, 2009), eleven teaching honors in all. At Lenox Hill he sits on the orthopedic residency and sports medicine fellowship admissions committees, the Program Evaluation Committee, and the Hospital Medical Board.

He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and a member of the American Orthopaedic Association, the oldest and most prestigious orthopedic association in the world, comprising fewer than 10% of practicing orthopedic surgeons.

By his own account, he is proudest of, and best known among his peers for, his surgical skill.

Teaching & Speaking

84 lectures and presentations. Counting.

National podium presentations at AAOS, AOSSM, and ASSH. Invited lectures at national meetings and educational platforms including the Orthopaedic Summit, the Philadelphia Hand Meeting, VuMedi, and the IFSSH. Course faculty and cadaver-lab instructor at national surgical skills programs. Below, selected moments.

Dr. Lee speaking at a surgical fellowship forum
Fellowship Forum
Speaking on technique and outcomes
Dr. Lee presenting Scapholunate Tear Options at NISMAT
NISMAT · Scapholunate Tear Options
Academic lecture on a published surgical series
Dr. Lee on a faculty panel of upper-extremity surgeons
Upper-Extremity Faculty Panel
Faculty panel on advanced upper-extremity surgery
Dr. Lee on an NFL fracture management faculty panel
NFL Fracture Management
Faculty panel on professional-athlete fracture care
Dr. Lee teaching hand surgery technique at an Arthrex surgical skills course
Arthrex Surgical Skills Course
Faculty teaching surgical technique at the bench
Practice Today

Two New York offices, in person and online.

Dr. Lee sees patients at two offices: his primary practice on Manhattan's East 74th Street and a second office in Scarsdale, Westchester. He offers in-person and telemedicine consultations and treats both in-network and out-of-network patients, including international patients who travel specifically to consult with him.

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