Jennifer S. Lee, MD
Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, George Washington University
Visiting Scholar at National Academy of Medicine
Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Policy and Services, Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
Jennifer S. Lee, MD serves as the Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Policy and Services. In this position, Dr. Lee provides guidance to the Under Secretary for Health on matters related to health care policy, strategic objectives, and policy requirements for legislatively mandated health care delivery programs. She also provides leadership for the various Health Policy and Services programs within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to ensure VA’s overall strategic objectives and agency priority goals are met.
Dr. Lee comes to the VHA from Virginia state government where she served as the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Resources responsible for managing a $13 billion budget and overseeing 11 agencies with over 16,000 employees. The Secretariat comprised 30 percent of the state budget and encompassed all the state’s major health care and social service programs, including Medicaid, Behavioral Health, Social Services, Public Health, and Aging and Rehabilitation.
Previously, Dr. Lee served as a White House Fellow in VA’s Office of the Secretary where she led the effort to employ Veteran combat medics and corpsmen in VA Medical Centers as advanced technicians, known as Intermediate Care Technicians. She also served as the VA liaison to Joining Forces, an initiative begun by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to support Veterans, Service members, and their families. As a special advisor to the VHA Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Health, Dr. Lee continued her work to facilitate partnerships by launching the VHA Office of Community Engagement.
Dr. Lee previously served as a health policy fellow on the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. She served on the Virginia Board of Medicine from 2008-11. She was a Policy Research Scholar at George Washington University, where she held a joint appointment in emergency medicine and health policy and researched and lectured extensively on policy topics. She also developed a Health Policy Fellowship Program to train physician leaders, many of whom are now leading change in the public and private sector.
Dr. Lee received her bachelor’s in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University and her medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine. She completed her residency in emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital and is board-certified in Emergency Medicine. She is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at George Washington University and a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians. She is also a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, George Washington University
Visiting Scholar at National Academy of Medicine
Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Policy and Services, Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
Jennifer S. Lee, MD serves as the Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Policy and Services. In this position, Dr. Lee provides guidance to the Under Secretary for Health on matters related to health care policy, strategic objectives, and policy requirements for legislatively mandated health care delivery programs. She also provides leadership for the various Health Policy and Services programs within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to ensure VA’s overall strategic objectives and agency priority goals are met.
Dr. Lee comes to the VHA from Virginia state government where she served as the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Resources responsible for managing a $13 billion budget and overseeing 11 agencies with over 16,000 employees. The Secretariat comprised 30 percent of the state budget and encompassed all the state’s major health care and social service programs, including Medicaid, Behavioral Health, Social Services, Public Health, and Aging and Rehabilitation.
Previously, Dr. Lee served as a White House Fellow in VA’s Office of the Secretary where she led the effort to employ Veteran combat medics and corpsmen in VA Medical Centers as advanced technicians, known as Intermediate Care Technicians. She also served as the VA liaison to Joining Forces, an initiative begun by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to support Veterans, Service members, and their families. As a special advisor to the VHA Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Health, Dr. Lee continued her work to facilitate partnerships by launching the VHA Office of Community Engagement.
Dr. Lee previously served as a health policy fellow on the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. She served on the Virginia Board of Medicine from 2008-11. She was a Policy Research Scholar at George Washington University, where she held a joint appointment in emergency medicine and health policy and researched and lectured extensively on policy topics. She also developed a Health Policy Fellowship Program to train physician leaders, many of whom are now leading change in the public and private sector.
Dr. Lee received her bachelor’s in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University and her medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine. She completed her residency in emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital and is board-certified in Emergency Medicine. She is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at George Washington University and a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians. She is also a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
