lee did her graduate studies in biostatistics at the university of north carolina at chapel hill, where she earned a master's degree in 2000 and completed her doctorate in 2003. she joined the faculty at the university of south florida in 2003, and in 2014 moved to the university of new mexico as a professor of internal medicine and director of biostatistics in the unm comprehensive cancer center. since 2018 she has been a professor of biostatistics at the university of florida and director of biostatistics and quantitative sciences in the university of florida health cancer center.