Jeannie T. Lee

Jeannie T. Lee
Alma mater Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania Medical School
Awards

2016 Lurie Award, 2016 Centennial Award from Genetics Society of America, 2015 election to National Academy of Sciences (NAS),

2010 Molecular Biology Award from NAS
Scientific career
Fields epigenetics, long noncoding RNA, X-inactivation
Thesis  (1993)
Doctoral advisor Robert Nussbaum

Jeannie T. Lee is a Professor of Genetics and Pathology at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. She is known for her work on X-chromosome inactivation and for discovering the functions of a new class of epigenetic regulators known as long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) for example Xist and Tsix.

Education

Jeannie T. Lee received an AB from Harvard College in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and an MD/PhD in 1993[1] from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.[2] While at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine her advisor was Robert L. Nussbaum.[3] Her PhD research focused on Fragile X syndrome, and let to her strong interest in X chromosome inactivation and epigenetics.[4] Then she did postdoctoral work with Rudolf Jaenisch at the Whitehead Institute , during which she discovered the nature of the X-inactivation center.[3]

Research Career

Lee joined the faculty at Harvard in 1997 and devoted her studies to sex chromosome dynamics during development and disease. Her major career research achievements include identifying the X inactivation center,[5][6] discovering Tsix antisense RNA,[7] determining Xist's mechanism of action,[8][9] and demonstrating that a lncRNA is a regulator of Polycomb repressive complex 2.[10][11][12][13]

Her studies established the existence and function of a group of regulatory RNAs known as long noncoding RNAs or lncRNAs. There are about ten times as many lncRNAs in a eukaryotic cell as mRNAs. In a 2013 interview, she was asked what excited her about this group of RNAs. She said they control gene expression in a locus-specific way, by recruiting chromatin modifying activities to the locus, so the lncRNAs make excellent drug design targets. She founded RaNA Therapeutics to test this idea. [3]

Upon conferring the Lurie Prize to Lee in 2016, Dr. Charles A. Sanders of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health remarked: “Dr. Lee’s work has revolutionized the field of epigenetics. Her research has led to groundbreaking contributions, and we now have a better understanding of the unique role that long non-coding RNAs play in gene expression, which could lead to the development of new therapeutics.”[14]

She is the 2018 President of the Genetics Society of America.[15]

Awards

References

  1. ↑ "Jeannie T. Lee". Massachusetts General Hospital. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  2. ↑ http://www.hhmi.org/scientists/jeannie-t-lee
  3. 1 2 3 "Interview with Jeannie T. Lee". Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society. August 13, 2016.
  4. ↑ Viegas, J. "QnAs with Jeannie T. Lee". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 112: 14745–6. doi:10.1073/pnas.1521185112. PMC 4672782. PMID 26582793.
  5. ↑ Lee, J. T.; Strauss, W. M.; Dausman, J. A.; Jaenisch, R. (1996-07-12). "A 450 kb transgene displays properties of the mammalian X-inactivation center". Cell. 86 (1): 83–94. ISSN 0092-8674. PMID 8689690.
  6. ↑ Lee, J. T.; Lu, N.; Han, Y. (1999-03-30). "Genetic analysis of the mouse X inactivation center defines an 80-kb multifunction domain". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 96 (7): 3836–3841. ISSN 0027-8424. PMID 10097124.
  7. ↑ Lee, J. T.; Davidow, L. S.; Warshawsky, D. (April 1999). "Tsix, a gene antisense to Xist at the X-inactivation centre". Nature Genetics. 21 (4): 400–404. doi:10.1038/7734. ISSN 1061-4036. PMID 10192391.
  8. ↑ Zhao, Jing; Sun, Bryan K.; Erwin, Jennifer A.; Song, Ji-Joon; Lee, Jeannie T. (2008-10-31). "Polycomb proteins targeted by a short repeat RNA to the mouse X chromosome". Science. 322 (5902): 750–756. doi:10.1126/science.1163045. ISSN 1095-9203. PMC 2748911. PMID 18974356.
  9. ↑ Minajigi, Anand; Froberg, John; Wei, Chunyao; Sunwoo, Hongjae; Kesner, Barry; Colognori, David; Lessing, Derek; Payer, Bernhard; Boukhali, Myriam (2015-07-17). "A comprehensive Xist interactome reveals cohesin repulsion and an RNA-directed chromosome conformation". Science. 349 (6245). doi:10.1126/science.aab2276. ISSN 0036-8075. PMC 4845908. PMID 26089354.
  10. ↑ Zhao, Jing; Sun, Bryan K.; Erwin, Jennifer A.; Song, Ji-Joon; Lee, Jeannie T. (2008-10-31). "Polycomb proteins targeted by a short repeat RNA to the mouse X chromosome". Science. 322 (5902): 750–756. doi:10.1126/science.1163045. ISSN 1095-9203. PMC 2748911. PMID 18974356.
  11. ↑ Zhao, Jing; Ohsumi, Toshiro K.; Kung, Johnny T.; Ogawa, Yuya; Grau, Daniel J.; Sarma, Kavitha; Song, Ji Joon; Kingston, Robert E.; Borowsky, Mark (2010-12-22). "Genome-wide identification of polycomb-associated RNAs by RIP-seq". Molecular Cell. 40 (6): 939–953. doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2010.12.011. ISSN 1097-4164. PMC 3021903. PMID 21172659.
  12. ↑ Cifuentes-Rojas, Catherine; Hernandez, Alfredo J.; Sarma, Kavitha; Lee, Jeannie T. (2014-07-17). "Regulatory interactions between RNA and polycomb repressive complex 2". Molecular Cell. 55 (2): 171–185. doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2014.05.009. ISSN 1097-4164. PMC 4107928. PMID 24882207.
  13. ↑ Zovoilis, Athanasios; Cifuentes-Rojas, Catherine; Chu, Hsueh-Ping; Hernandez, Alfredo J.; Lee, Jeannie T. (2016-12-15). "Destabilization of B2 RNA by EZH2 Activates the Stress Response". Cell. 167 (7): 1788–1802.e13. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2016.11.041. ISSN 1097-4172. PMC 5552366. PMID 27984727.
  14. ↑ "Foundation for the NIH to Award Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences to Dr. Jeannie Lee for Pioneering Work in Epigenetics | FNIH". fnih.org. Retrieved 2017-09-30.
  15. ↑ http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/20033180.html
  16. ↑ http://www.oligotherapeutics.org/interview-with-jeannie-t-lee-md-phd/
  17. ↑ http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/20033180.html
  18. ↑ "Centennial Awards honor outstanding GENETICS articles". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2017-09-30.
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