Kelley Lee is a Professor of Public Health at Simon Fraser University. She has studied the impact of globalisation on public health, with a particular focus on the tobacco industry. During the COVID-19 pandemic Lee studied effective ways to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in an effort to design evidence-based public health strategies.
Lee was based in the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Global Change and Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Here she led the Public and Environmental Health Research Unit and studied the relationships between trade and global health. Whilst some argue that globalisation only drives inequality, others believe that it is a positive force which will eventually improve the lives of all. Her work considered how global health intersected with foreign policy. In particular, Lee works on tobacco control and the globalisation of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Whilst Lee believed that the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was an important achievement, she has argued that the WHO must take into account the increasing globalisation of the tobacco industry. She joined Simon Fraser University in 2011 where she was made Associate Dean for Research and Director of Global Health. At SFU Lee leads the Global Tobacco ControlResearch Programme. She was appointed a Canada Research Chair in Global Health Governance in 2016. Lee has investigated the role of the WHO in international cooperation and how it responds to global challenges. Her research has shown that collective action and cooperation is essential to improve the global response to pandemics, including severe acute respiratory syndrome, Ebola and HIV/AIDS. In 2018 Lee was selected by the Canadian Society for International Health as one of the leading women in global health. Lee is leading a Canadian Institutes of Health Researchresearch program to evaluate the efficacy of coronavirus prevention strategies. She looked to define and categorise the various measures adopted by countries and corporations, and compare these approaches with datasets from historical pandemic responses. By understanding the effectiveness of various prevention strategies, Lee looks to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2. When asked by the Rolling Stone magazine what she thought of the WHO response to coronavirus disease, Lee was impressed by their proactive approach, "it has kept us informed. It has mobilized scientists and coordinated data and research. It has collected the best evidence and tried to put forward very clear guidance about what should be done. The big question is whether we've given it enough authority and resources to act the way we want it to act". She believes that the WHO struggles to respond quickly to emerging disasters because of underfunding, as well as trying to deal with global politics and bureaucracy. She has said that SARS-CoV-2 may cause the world to ask profound questions about how we govern the world, “I used to say it would take a really big outbreak or catastrophe. Now it's here. We've got it. If we can learn from this one we'll be so much better equipped for the next one. But people just don't want to face those questions”. Lee has said that people who smoke and vape are at a greater risk to become infected by coronavirus disease. Researchers in Wuhan identified that smokers were fourteen times more likely to have coronavirus disease progression. Lee has called for British ColumbiaMinistry of Health to expand their Smoking Cessation Program during the outbreak.
