Medical physicist Ting-Yim Lee still isn’t sure exactly what interviewers saw in him when they recruited him in 1988 to work in radiology research at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
But he’s honoured they saw and cultivated that kernel of possibility.
Lee is now recognized as an innovative imaging scientist transforming research and patient care. In June, Lee will receive the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists’ (COMP) Gold Medal Award for exemplary achievement. It is the organization’s most prestigious award.
“I was hired from Winnipeg to work here,” he says. “I had a thin CV, and very few publications. I was a nobody, I thought. But St. Joseph’s recognizes the potential in people and they saw potential in me. If not for St. Joseph’s nurturing environment, our imaging program would not be what it is today.”
Lee is director of PET/CT Research at Lawson Research Institute (Lawson) and medical physicist at St. Joseph’s Hospital. He is also a professor at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and a scientist at Robarts Research Institute.
At St. Joseph’s and Lawson, he has sparked the growth of the Molecular Imaging and Theranostics program. Recently it was chosen to be Canada’s first a GE Centre of Excellence in Molecular Imaging and Theranostics based on the past track record of the Lawson Imaging program of achieving a number of national and global firsts.
Mustard-seed growth
Lee says the Lawson Imaging Program’s development is symbolized by the mustard seed in the St. Joseph’s logo: “The mustard seed is the smallest of seeds and it grows into a strong and beautiful tree. When I started at St. Joseph’s, we’d installed a CT scanner one year earlier, and we were quite behind other hospitals. Then we started developing it bit by bit, piece by piece, leaf by leaf.”
Among his most celebrated achievements is developing CT Perfusion technology, a world-first in 2000 that has revolutionized stroke diagnosis and treatment by providing detailed images of blood flow in and to the brain.
The technology is used in more than 8,000 hospitals worldwide and more than 25,000 licences of the technology have been sold over the last 22 years– the royalties enabling the purchase of new, state-of-the-art CT and PET/CT equipment at St. Joseph’s to the benefit of researchers and patients alike.
Lee’s contribution helped secure a $30-million Canada Foundation for Innovation initiative in 2006, introducing hybrid imaging to Canada—including the nation’s first PET/MRI systems. His
expertise has turned contrast-enhanced CT into a powerful functional imaging tool with applications to oncology, cardiology, and neurology.
Excellence, multiplied
“It is no exaggeration to state that without Dr. Lee, the Lawson Imaging Research Program and the medical physics team would never have achieved the heights of success that it has,” says Frank Prato, PhD, founder of the program in 1982 and its leader until 2024.
Prato says Lee has had “a profound influence” on the careers of hundreds of medical physicists, including training and mentoring 60 graduate and postdoctoral students – many of whom are now training students of their own.
“These multipliers/amplifiers of Dr. Lee’s mentorship have had a profound effect on the excellence of the medical physicists we have in Canada and the excellence of the ones we train for the world,” Prato says.
Lee has published 290 research papers, which have been cited nearly 19,000 times – an indication of their impact in the medical community. He has been awarded the Meritorious Service Cross from the Governor General of Canada and received the Career Achievement Award as a WORLDiscoveries innovator.
The St. Joseph’s difference
More recently, Lee created, in partnership with St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation and Western, two endowed chairs to research and translate liquid radiation therapy.
His considerable accomplishments are matched by his humility and his eagerness to deflect credit to his colleagues, St. Joseph’s, the St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation and the broader imaging and research communities.
Excellent technology and research are an outgrowth of the people and culture of St. Joseph’s, Lee emphasizes. “I always feel that when I walk into St. Joseph’s, it immediately has that warm feeling that envelops you. It’s different. It’s a nurturing environment.”
The COMP Gold Medal is the highest award given by the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists and is given to currently active or retired individuals to recognize medical physicists who have made outstanding contributions:
- A body of work fundamentally altering the knowledge base and practice of medical physics
- Leadership positions in medical physics organizations leading to improvements in the status and public image of medical physicists in Canada
- Significant influence on the professional development of the careers of medical physicists in Canada through educational activities or mentorship
Several London and Lawson-affiliated researchers have won the COMP Gold Medal, including Prato in 2024.
This year’s annual scientific meeting takes place in London on June 4 – 7.
