Dr Lee joined the Woodruff Group - Neuroinflammation in 2015 after being awarded a Motor Neuron Disease Research Institute (MNDRIA) fellowship. His projects encompass the investigation of innate immune and inflammatory pathways including complement and inflammasomes in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS/MND). He also has an emerging interest on the links between the immune system, and metabolism in neurodegeneration.

Researcher biography

Dr. Lee is an early career researcher who has training in neuroscience, and additional experience in pharmacology and immunity. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Queensland (UQ) in 2014 and continued his post-doctoral research studies in the field of neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases. He is currently an Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellow at UQ's School of Biomedical Sciences, where he focusses on innate immune and inflammatory pathways including the complement system and inflammasomes in motor neuron disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and COVID-19. Current therapies for these diseases are lacking and hence there is an urgent need for new research to identify new therapeutic targets and approaches to slow or halt disease progression. Dr. Lee’s research has demonstrated the therapeutic potential of multiple anti-inflammatory drugs targeting innate immune-mediated neuroinflammation to reduce neuronal cell death in animal models of neurodegenerative disease. He also has an emerging interest in the links between the immune system, stress response, and energy metabolism in neurodegeneration.