Wednesday, June 20, 2018

USA Welcomes New Physician-Scientist

Dr. Ji Young Lee recently was appointed assistant professor of physiology and cell biology at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine. She also serves as assistant professor of internal medicine at the USA College of Medicine and as a pulmonary and critical care physician with USA Health.

Dr. Lee earned her medical degree from Pusan National University in Pusan, South Korea. After completing an internship at Daedong Hospital in Pusan, South Korea, she moved to New York and finished her residency at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in Bronx, N.Y. Dr. Lee received her Ph.D. in molecular medicine from Elmezzi Graduate School of Molecular Medicine in Manhasset, N.Y.

She then completed her fellowship training in pulmonary and critical care medicine and completed her postdoctoral research in lung biology at USA, where she focused her research on investigating fundamental mechanisms of pulmonary endothelial cell heterogeneity.

“Being a physician-scientist motivates me to look for potential research questions at the bedside and guides me to refine my bench research for efficient translation back to bedside,” Dr. Lee said.

Dr. Lee currently is doing translational research on the effect of acidosis on pulmonary endothelial cells in the context of pathologic conditions, such as infection and hypoxia. She looks forward to facilitating collaborative research between scientific and clinical departments, and to passing down the great teaching and support from her mentors at USA to students.