Michael Lee, PhD

Dr. Michael Lee obtained BA in 1985 from Macalester College and his PhD in Neuroscience in 1991 from University of Virginia. Following the completion of Postdoctoral Fellowship with Dr. Don W. Cleveland at Johns Hopkins University (1991-1995), he became faculty at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1995 where he established a research program in generating transgenic mouse models of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases (AD/PD); and using the models to understand disease mechanisms. Dr. Lee moved to University of Minnesota in 2009 as the Director of Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases at Institute for Translational Neuroscience (2009 – 2019). He is currently a professor of neuroscience. Dr. Lee’s lab is studying how alterations in cellular protein homeostasis contribute to neurodegeneration and targeting these pathways for novel therapies that can stop disease progression. Dr. Lee’s lab has shown that alpha-synuclein pathology in neurons is associated with increased senescence and that reducing senescence attenuates neurodegeneration associated with a-synucleinopathy. The efforts of Dr. Lee’s research aim to lead therapies that will provide, not only symptomatic relief, but slow the disease progression.