Jerry Lee's Biography

Jerry Lee, Deputy Director, National Institutes of Health

Dr. Lee serves as Health Sciences Director within the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Office of the Director where he has dual roles as Deputy Director for both the Center for Strategic Scientific Initiatives (CSSI) and the Center for Cancer Genomics (CCG). Dr. Lee is responsible for scientific, programmatic, and operational management of CSSI and CCG’s broad scientific portfolio (~$138.7 million per year) carried out by more than 80 staff members within CSSI and CCG offices including: The Cancer Genome Program Office (TCGA PO), Office of Cancer Genomics (OCG), Office of Cancer Nanotechnology Research (OCNR), Office of Biorespositories and Biospecimen Research (OBBR), Office of Cancer Clinical Proteomics Research (OCCPR), and Office of Physical Sciences-Oncology (OPSO). He provides scientific input to the planning, development, and deployment of programs to carry out the Center’s mission to build exploratory initiatives focused on the integration of advanced technologies, trans-disciplinary approaches, infrastructures, and standards, to accelerate the creation of publicly available, broadly accessible, multi-dimensional data, knowledge, and tools to empower the entire cancer research continuum for patient benefit.

Scientifically, Dr. Lee has extensive research experience in using engineering-based approaches to examine mechanisms of age-related diseases and cancer progression focused on combining cell biology, molecular biology, and engineering to understand various cellular reactions to external stimuli. Specifically, Dr. Lee's research has emphasized increasing the understanding of RhoGTPase-mediated nuclear and cellular mechanical responses to fluid flow, 3D culture, and contributions to laminopathies such as progeria. He has co-authored numerous papers, three book chapters, one book, and has spoken at various cell biological and biomedical conferences.

Dr. Lee currently serves as adjunct assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University, where he also earned his bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering and Ph.D. degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering.