Myung Chul Lee obtained his MD and PhD from Seoul National University College of Medicine in 1973 and 1983, respectively. He is currently president of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST), and is also serving as president of the Korea Armed Forces Capital Hospital, president of the Korea Association for Radiation Application (KARA), president of the World Council for Isotopes (WCI), and subcommittee chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on Science and Technology (PACST).

He served as a professor at Department of Nuclear Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, from 1981 to 2012. He was also the president of Gachon University Gil Medical Centre, president of the Korean Society of Nuclear Medicine, president of the Korean Association for Radiation Protection, president of the Korean Association for Nuclear Medicine Promotion, and president of the Korean Society of Human Brain Mapping.

His research is concerned with the research and development of new radiopharmaceuticals research and clinical applications of positron emission tomography (PET) and cyclotron technology; nuclear neurology, including diagnosis and treatment in dementia, epilepsy and brain tumors; radionuclide treatment for various diseases; and quantitative and qualitative analyses in nuclear brain imaging.

He is a recipient of the Order of Science and Technology Merit (Changjo Medal), awarded by the President of the Republic of Korea for distinguished contributions to science and technology.