Frances Eun-Hyung Lee

F. Eun-Hyung Lee, MD is an Associate Professor in Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine and the Lowance Center for Human Immunology in the Department of Medicine at Emory University and the director of the Emory Asthma, Allergy, Immunology Program. Dr. Lee is also a member of the Emory Vaccine Center and Center for Childhood Infections and Vaccines (CCIV) at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Her research focus is to understand the biology of human protective and pathogenic plasma cells in health and disease in blood, bone marrow (BM), and respiratory tissues. Her laboratory has identified a unique phenotype of human long-lived plasma cells (LLPC) in the BM and the special survival factors within the BM microniche where LLPC reside. Using the different qualities of the human plasmablasts/antibody secreting cells (ASC) in the blood, respiratory tissues, and bone marrow, she is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms of LLPC maturation and maintenance. She also pioneered using a novel matrix from circulating ASC in the blood called MENSA: (media enriched with newly synthesized antibodies) to diagnose acute viral, bacterial, and fungal infections.

Dr. Lee completed her undergraduate and medical school education at the Johns Hopkins University. She trained in Internal Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), served as Chief Medical Resident, and then completed her Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine fellowship at Boston University and URMC. She stayed on as faculty at URMC until she eventually moved to Emory University in 2012. Dr. Lee is an NIH study section member and ad hoc reviewer for various grant programs and journals. She also co-leads a project from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop human B cell therapies.