Virginia Lee, PhD
Professor
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
vmylee@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Maloney Building 3rd Floor
The Lee lab focuses on tau, α-synuclein, TDP-43, and other misfolded disease proteins in the pathobiology of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A multi-disciplinary approach (including biochemical and molecular studies of neuronal culture systems, animal models and human tissues obtained at autopsy) is used to address research issues unique to AD, PD, FTLD and ALS as well as common to these neurodegenerative diseases including the cell-to-cell transmission of these misfolded disease proteins and the mechanisms of pathogenesis. Other research efforts focus on understanding the biology and normal functions of α-synuclein, tau and TDP-43. These and other research approaches will provide insights on the loss of functions and gain of toxic functions of these disease proteins to advance drug discovery in AD, PD, FTLD and ALS.