September 11, 2024
Dr. Nathan Lee, a fellowship-trained orthopedic spine surgeon specializing in cervical, lumbar, and complex spinal deformity surgery, will begin seeing patients at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush (MOR) effective September 16, 2024. He joins a nationally renowned spine group in a practice consistently ranked among the top ten in the nation and the #1 orthopedic program in Illinois.
Dr. Lee treats patients with a wide array of spinal disorders, including those with scoliosis and spinal deformity (adult and adolescent), age-related degenerative arthritis, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, disc herniation, fractures, spinal cord injury, infections, as well as patients requiring revision spinal surgeries. Dr. Lee believes in a multi-disciplinary approach to spinal care and in collaborating with colleagues to optimize patient outcomes and enhance their quality of life.
He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science, graduating magna cum laude and inducted into the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society. He received his MD from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he graduated with a Distinction in Research. During his orthopedic surgery residency at Columbia University, he received the prestigious Lawrence G. Lenke Award for Excellence in Spine Surgery. Post-residency, he completed a Comprehensive Adult & Pediatric Spinal Deformity Fellowship at New York Presbyterian Och Spine Hospital (Columbia and Cornell University). At Columbia, Dr. Lee also gained experience in pediatric and adolescent spinal surgery at the New York Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital.
Dr. Lee prioritizes the integration of cutting-edge technology with patient-specific preoperative planning, his mastery of spinal navigation, robot-assisted technology, minimally invasive techniques, and machine learning applications. He has authored over 130 peer-reviewed scientific articles and over 250 national and international podium and poster presentations over the last 10 years. Dr. Lee's work has garnered recognition, including awards such as Best Paper at the 39th North American Spine Society, 2nd Place Resident/Fellow Research Award at the 48th Cervical Spine Research Society, and finalist status for both the Thomas Whitecloud Clinical Award (28th International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques) and Russell A. Hibbs Award in Clinical Research (59th Scoliosis Research Society Annual Meeting).
