Juneyoung Lee Lab
Juneyoung Lee, PhD – Assistant Professor
Education & Training
PhD Computational Biology and Medical Science, The University of Tokyo – Tokyo, Japan
Areas of Interest
Clinical interests: aging, ischemic stroke, Alzheimer’s Disease, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, loneliness and social isolation
Research interests: neuro-immune interactions, host-microbe interactions, inter-organ communication, host metabolism, and bacteriotherapy
Research
Dr. Lee’s Laboratory of Neuro-Mucosal Immunology explores (1) neuro-immune interactions, (2) host-microbe interactions, (3) inter-organ communication and (4) host metabolism. Specifically, these interdisciplinary studies include investigating the bidirectional communication between the brain, host mucosal tissues (e.g., gastrointestinal, respiratory and urogenital tracts) and metabolic tissues (e.g., liver and adipose tissues) in the context of age-related neurological diseases and psychosocial stress. The Lee Laboratory aims to interrogate the unknown mechanisms and target dysregulation in diseases with the goal of identifying novel therapeutic options by utilizing state-of-art techniques for metagenomics (e.g., microbiome), metabolomics and flow cytometry. Very recently, the Lee Laboratory has also established two experimental platforms within the laboratory for translational and innovative research: (1) patient induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)-derived organoids and assembloids and (2) single-cell and spatial transcriptomics and related key instruments for single-cell RNA sequencing study.
Nabila Boukelmoune, PhD – Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Education & Training
MS Molecular Biology, University of Science and Technology of Oran – Oran, Algeria
MS Biomedical Sciences, The University of Texas Health Center at Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences – Houston, TX
PhD Neuroscience and Neuroimmunology, Utrecht University- Utrecht, Netherlands
Areas of Interest
Research interests: Neuroimmune interactions in neurodegenerative diseases and chronic pain, autoimmunity, meningeal lymphatics, neuromodulatory effects of cytokines, neuroprotective therapies.
Research
My doctoral research focused on the neuroregenerative potential of mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairments and peripheral neuropathy. My early postdoctoral contributions centered on the neuromodulatory potential of mesenchymal stem cells on B cells and T cells as well as the contributions of B cells to chronic pain. My current research focuses on elucidating the complex role of B cells and microglia contributing to cerebrovascular and neurological diseases progression through neuroinflammation and antibody production. I am also interested in the immunomodulatory role of the gut microbiota in neuropathology.
Hobbies & Interests
Art exhibitions, drawing and painting, cooking and baking, traveling.
Research Assistants
Olivia BarclayVisiting Students
Dillan Patel - Undergraduate Research StudentEMT, Rice University Emergency Medical Services
Lab Alumni
Anik Banerjee, PhD
Vincent Kim
Ishita Mahajan
Peijun Zhao