Annette T. Lee

Biography

Dr. Annette Lee graduated from Northeastern University and received her PhD from The Rockefeller University. She joined The Center for Genomics and Human Genetics as an Assistant Professor in 2001 and worked on the genetics of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and inflammatory bowel disease. More recently as an associate investigator and director of the Laboratory of Translational Genetics, she has established her own area of research investigating the genetics of cancer – including chronic lymphocytic leukemia, breast and ovarian cancers. Dr. Lee has directed the sample genotyping for several large autoimmune genome-wide association studies to identify risk genes for rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), scleroderma, alopecia areata, IgA deficiency, myasthenia gravis and myositis. All of these studies have either resulted in publications in high profile journals or are in the process of being analyzed for manuscript submission. As a follow up to genome-wide studies, she has also supervised the selection and development of targeted genetic studies which range from a few variants to dense mapping of over 12,000 SNPs for several autoimmune diseases, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetic nephropathy and asthma. Several key genetic variants associated with human diseases have been identified as a direct result of these studies. More recently she has begun to study biomarkers of breast and ovarian cancers. Dr. Lee has co-authored almost 100 peer-reviewed papers. Together with her collaborators throughout the Northwell Health enterprise, she has established a biobank of breast and ovarian tissue samples for research. Together with Dr Iuliana Shapira, Dr. Lee was honored at the Moms Who Kick 2012 Gala held at The Garden City Hotel for their research in breast cancer. Dr. Lee and Dr. Shapira were recently featured in the December 2012 televised series of Medical Updates.

Research Interest

The current research focus of The Laboratory of Translational Genetics is to discover and validate new biomarkers for early detection, prediction of disease course and outcome and treatment response in cancer, in particular breast and ovarian cancers. Each year thousands of women die from these types of cancer which may have been prevented if methods of early detection and more effective treatments were available.