Hochang B. (Ben) Lee, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, has been recruited to become the John Romano Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Chief of Psychiatry at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, and Regional Chief of Psychiatry for the University of Rochester Medical Center.
Lee’s appointment will begin in September, pending approval by the University Board of Trustees. He will succeed Eric Caine, MD, who served nearly a quarter-century as Chair of the university’s psychiatry department.
Lee, who has worked at Yale since 2011, is known for his clinical expertise, commitment to education, and creative research. He was recruited to become founding Director and Chief of the Yale School of Medicine’s Psychological Medicine Service that oversees all consultative and collaborative psychiatry programs at both the York Street and St. Raphael campuses of Yale New Haven Hospital. He is also Director of the Psychological Medicine Research Center at Yale.
In a statement released by the University of Rochester Medical Center, Jeffrey Lyness, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Psychiatry & Neurology at the university, said Lee stood out from other applicants for his “broad experience leading effective interdisciplinary teams that span all departmental missions, and his ability to develop innovative models of care delivery that serve as ripe platforms for training and scholarship.” Lyness, who led the search committee that recommended Lee’s appointment, is an alumnus of the Yale Psychiatry Residency Program.
Lee reorganized all consultative and collaborative psychiatry programs at Yale New Haven Hospital under one umbrella of the Yale Psychological Medicine Service to deliver integrated behavioral health care to inpatient medical and surgical patients. The service’s Behavioral Intervention Team is a nationally recognized consultation model for psychiatric service delivery.
I was thrilled to recruit Ben to Yale and, upon arriving, he exceeded my expectations of him as a clinical leader, teacher, mentor, and investigator.
John Krystal, MD, Chair, Yale Department of Psychiatry
Lee, who has a joint appointment as Associate Clinical Professor for Yale School of Nursing, is a national expert on neuropsychiatric complications of cardiovascular disease, geriatric psychiatry, and Alzheimer’s disease. His primary research involves identification and prevention of neuropsychiatric symptoms after major surgery.
“I was thrilled to recruit Ben to Yale and, upon arriving, he exceeded my expectations of him as a clinical leader, teacher, mentor, and investigator”, said John Krystal, MD, Chair of the Yale Department of Psychiatry. He went on, “The University of Rochester is extremely fortunate to have recruited him. I will miss him personally and we will all miss his contributions to the Department of Psychiatry and Yale New Haven Hospital.”
Lee came to Yale from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where he was Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Research Development at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. He is board certified in psychiatry with sub-specialty certification in psychosomatic medicine. He completed residency and fellowships at Johns Hopkins after earning his MD at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1997.