Helen Lee is a Chinese-born, British–French medical researcher who won the European Inventor Award 2016 in the Popular Prize category for inventing diagnostic kits for resource-poor regions of the globe.

The diagnostic kit, named "SAMBA" (simple amplification-based assay) was tested in sub-saharan Africa with Médecins Sans Frontières.

[4] In 2016, she was winner of the European Inventor Award in the Popular Prize category and received more than 36300 votes[5] According to Benoît Battistelli, the president of the European Patent Office, "The overwhelming public vote for Helen Lee recognises her major contribution to the early detection and treatment of infectious diseases in areas most in need.

[7] In May 2020, Lee was recognised on The Times' Science Power List because her invention, the diagnostic kit SAMBA II, is being repurposed for use in COVID-19 testing.

[8] She is married to Jean Pierre Allain who was convicted by French authorities for his part in the haemophilia scandal.