Dr. Carolyn Lee on Comfort Zones, Identity, and Creating Your Own Path in Medicine

Christine welcomes her friend and colleague Dr. Carolyn Lee, MD, PhD, a Yale- and Georgetown-trained dermatologist and Stanford residency graduate now at UVA, who is an epithelial biologist and entrepreneur focused on high-risk skin cancer and developing new anti-cancer therapeutics. Lee shares a childhood anecdote about avoiding the unknown and reflects on how growth happens at the edge of comfort, despite intimidation and failure. They discuss juggling multiple identities and interests, parenting mixed-race children after moving from the diverse Bay Area to Charlottesville, and the importance of maintaining hobbies and “many legs” of identity beyond work and family. Lee describes how being an Asian American woman shaped her experiences later in her career, including stereotypes, feeling “betrayed,” and learning to create her own path without templates, ending with advice: take opinions as opinions and do what you want to do.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

01:12 Comfort Zone Story

03:05 Growth at the Edge

03:42 Wearing Many Hats

05:54 Keeping Identity Beyond Work

07:25 Asian American in Medicine

09:10 Stereotypes and Belonging

11:47 No More Templates

12:40 Mentor Advice and Wrap Up