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Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Visual Loss

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Dr. Lee

   

Catherine A. A. Lee, PhD

Investigator, Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Visual Loss

Phone: (319) 338-0581 Ext 636912

Email: catherine-a-lee@uiowa.edu

Education

BA, Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley

MS, Stem Cell Biology, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

MS, Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

PhD, Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology, and Genetics, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Postdoc, Genetics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

Research Interests

Throughout my research career, I have used cutting edge technologies to understand how stem cells can be used to regenerate tissues and organs. During my graduate studies, I was an early adopter of single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) technology and worked with a machine learning group to create a transfer learning algorithm to identify pre-cancerous stromal cells in recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) patients. I also developed a protocol for the directed differentiation of oligodendrocytes from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for the treatment of spinal cord injury and modeled the blood-brain barrier of childhood cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (ccALD) patients using directed differentiation of iPSCs to resolve a longstanding question regarding breakdown of the blood-brain barrier in these patients. During my postdoc, I contributed to studies identifying BCAM as a marker of corneal epithelial transit amplifying cells required for corneal regeneration and to work demonstrating aberrant accumulation of transit amplifying cells in a mouse model of psoriasis and skin from psoriatic patients. Also, during my postdoc, I used a custom-contoured contact lenses created from impressions of the eye surface to protect 3D bioprinted ABCB5+ dermal stem cells during delivery to the surface of the eye in a rabbit model of limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD). I also used GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiling (DSP) to fill in a missing link in chronic vascularized composite allograft (VCA) rejection involving arteriosclerosis and T cell targeting of chimeric donor immune cells and recipient endothelium. My long-term career goals include developing iPSC therapy solutions for replacing the trabecular meshwork cells lost in glaucoma and delivering 3D bioprinted corneal endothelial cells to the posterior cornea for the treatment of Fuchs endothelial cell dystrophy (FECD).

Publication Highlights

  1. Sasamoto Y, Lee CAA, Wilson B, Buerger F, Martin G, Mishra A, Kiritoshi S, Tran J, Gonzalez G, Hildebrandt F, Jo VY, Lian CG, Murphy GF, Ksander BR, Frank MH, Frank NY. “Limbal BCAM expression identifies a proliferative progenitor population capable of holoclone formation and corneal differentiation.” PMID: 35947947. Cell Rep. 2022 Aug 9;40(6):111166.
  2. Lee CAA, Wang D, Kauke-Navarro M, Russell-Goldman E, Shuyun X, Mucciarone KN, Sohrabi S, Lian CG, Pomahac B, Murphy GF. “Insights from Immunoproteomic Profiling of a Rejected Full Face Transplant.” PMID: 37037378. Am J Transplant. 2023 Apr 8;S1600-6135(23)00405-7.
  3. Lee CAA, Wu S, Chow YT, Kofman E, Williams V, Riddle M, Eide C, Ebens CL, Frank MH, Tolar J, Hook KP, AlDubayan SH, Frank NY. “Accelerated Aging and Microsatellite Instability Implicated in Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa-Associated Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma.” PMID: 38272206. J Invest Dermatol. 2024 Jul;144(7):1534- 1543.e2.

 

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