Hannah Lee, MD

Biography

Treating the whole patient in the fight against liver cancer, chronic liver disease and health inequity.

From the streets of Boston’s Chinatown to the historic hallways of VCU Health and the School of Medicine, Dr. Hannah Lee’s journey as a transplant hepatologist is marked by a pursuit of renewing and reimagining her mission of promoting compassion in medicine through a patient-centered approach within the intersections of chronic liver disease, liver cancer, and palliative care.

Lee has made it her mission to not only treat liver diseases but to transform how they’re understood, communicated and managed, especially for the most vulnerable communities in Virginia and beyond. Her areas of expertise include hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), chronic hepatitis B and transplant hepatology.

And whether she’s treating a cancer patient, reviewing a cirrhosis case or caring for a patient struggling with alcohol use disorder, depression, and anxiety, she is known for her compassionate and down-to-earth approach with people and families. She notes patients with liver conditions, “bear considerable burden at multiple levels,” including potentially life-threatening complications, debilitating physical symptoms, mental health, and many other hardships (social, financial, stigmatization) and more.

“My philosophy as a physician has always been to view patients holistically. Because many times, physical ailments often stem from non-medical factors,” says Dr. Lee. “In order for us to improve our patients’ well-being, quality of life and outcomes, we need to view a patient as a whole person, and not just their problem or physical symptoms.”

At VCU Health, her knowledge and passion for her work is shared across teams: she serves as co-director of the multidisciplinary Liver Cancer Clinical Program under both VCU Health Hume-Lee Transplant Center and VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, treating patients in all stages of liver cancer.

“I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to be able to collaborate with my colleagues,” she says. “Team collaboration and coordination of care with our colleagues and in different medical specialties, including primary care, is critical in the care of our patients if we are to achieve good outcomes for them. As a transplant hepatologist, often we must step up to advocate for our patients.”

As a member of the VCU Health Hume-Lee Transplant Center team, she evaluates patients for liver transplants and cares for them before, during and after these life-saving surgeries. She is also on the team at the Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health, an affiliated research arm of VCU that aims to be a global leader in innovative liver-related research, education, and patient care.

“At Stravitz-Sanyal, we have such strong and inspiring leadership, mentorship and team science collaboration with a vision for innovation and cutting-edge research at all levels- locally, nationally and globally,” she says.

Lee earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and medical degree at the UNC School of Medicine. She left Chapel Hill for her internal medicine residency and a gastroenterology/hepatology fellowship at Tufts-New England Medical Center in the heart of Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood. She then stayed on the faculty there for ten years and led the Asian Liver Health program and was a member of the Tufts multidisciplinary liver cancer team. She is board-certified in gastroenterology and transplant hepatology.

Lee is also a member of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and has served on some of their special interest groups.

Whether holding a leadership position or engaging in patient advocacy, public health and policy at the national level, her voice and those of her colleagues’ nationwide have helped shape the future direction of both research as well as public health and policy in both HBV and HCC.

As a flourishing researcher, Lee has served as principal investigator on multiple multicenter studies and is currently involved in novel research in health literacy in patients with liver cancer and chronic liver disease. “Health literacy is often overlooked in chronic disease management, but it is inextricably linked with patient-centered care, health equity, quality of life and outcomes,” she says. “Health literacy is about how patient’s access, understand, appraise and apply health information to manage their health and well-being.”

Lee says the goal of addressing health literacy is not only to improve education and knowledge but to facilitate behavioral change through patient empowerment, engagement, shared decision-making and the development of self-management skills that lead to sustainable optimal health outcomes. Additionally, there is a need to strengthen the therapeutic relationship between patient and provider, improve access to care in the community, and improve the ability for patients to navigate a complicated health care system.

“For health literacy interventions to be effective where high-quality, patient-centered care is received equitably by every individual and their communities, it will be important for us to identify the health literacy needs and strengths of each different community and population group with direct engagement with local communities, local leaders, and stakeholders. This will require understanding the communities and their individual experiences in real world settings and to create sustainable interventions of health literacy development that are appropriate for the context of the community, co-designed, and fit for purpose. This must be done with cultural sensitivity that addresses the unique needs of the patient and their community,” says Dr. Lee.

Her research ties back to her personal mission to treat the whole patient and to do it with empathy and kindness: “Research with direct patient engagement gives us valuable insights into those living with liver disease, and if we can promote and lead research that is patient- centered, this can help in the development of effective public health and public policy interventions, and improve patient quality of life and outcomes.”