Lee White, MD, PHD
El Camino Health Urology - Sobrato
Lee White, MD, PhD, is a urologist. He has a special clinical interest in general urology, urologic oncology and robotic surgery.
Dr. White offers a wide variety of personalized care options. He strives to meet each patient's unique needs and priorities to help them achieve the best outcomes.
Empowering patients through education is his goal. He takes time to explain conditions as well as the pros and cons of all treatment options, so people can make the best choices for their health.
Dr. White has family members who carry the BRCA gene, which predisposes them to aggressive breast, ovarian and prostate cancers. This deeply personal experience motivated him to become a urologic oncologist to help others dealing with urologic cancer. He shares, "I'm passionate about urology because it's incredibly rewarding to help patients through daunting diagnoses and to provide treatments that profoundly enhance their quality of life."
Dr. White has been involved in surgical robotics research since 2008. He has worked with pioneers like Intuitive Surgical (da Vinci robot) and Auris/Johnson & Johnson (Monarch robot). He earned a PhD from the University of Washington (2013) that focused on surgical education for robotic surgery. He explains, "My ultimate goal is to apply my combined expertise as a robotics researcher and urologic surgeon to directly improve the tools we use for patient care."
Drawn to El Camino Health's spirit of innovation and commitment to the community, he says, "My engineering and robotics background made El Camino Health a natural fit. It's a place where I can integrate advanced medical technology into urological care."
Dr. White has won awards for research presented at national meetings and essays written about the history of robotic surgery in urology. He is a member of the American Urological Association and Society of Urologic Oncology.
In addition to his clinical and research work, Dr. White is an entrepreneur. He co-founded a successful med-tech start-up, called C-SATS, Inc, which is now part of Johnson & Johnson. In his free time, Dr. White enjoys spending time with his family, especially outdoors - camping, hiking and skiing.