Virginia Man-Yee Lee, Ph.D.
Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, 2020
The Times 'Science Power List’, 2020
Virginia Man-Yee Lee, Ph.D. was awarded the 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for her research on Alzheimer's disease. She is the John H. Ware 3rd Professor in Alzheimer's Research in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research and Co-director of the Marian S. Ware Alzheimer Drug Discovery Program.
Dr. Lee’s research focuses on disease proteins that form pathological inclusions in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and related neurodegenerative disorders of aging. Her work demonstrated that tau, alpha-synuclein, and TDP-43 proteins form unique brain aggregates in neurodegenerative diseases and provided critical evidence that aggregation of brain proteins is a common mechanistic theme in diverse neurodegenerative diseases. Most importantly, this research has opened up new avenues of research to identify targets for drug discovery to develop better treatments for these disorders. Dr. Lee is listed among the 10 most highly cited neuroscientists by Alzheimer’s Disease researchers.
Dr. Lee’s research focuses on disease proteins that form pathological inclusions in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and related neurodegenerative disorders of aging. Her work demonstrated that tau, alpha-synuclein, and TDP-43 proteins form unique brain aggregates in neurodegenerative diseases and provided critical evidence that aggregation of brain proteins is a common mechanistic theme in diverse neurodegenerative diseases. Most importantly, this research has opened up new avenues of research to identify targets for drug discovery to develop better treatments for these disorders. Dr. Lee is listed among the 10 most highly cited neuroscientists by Alzheimer’s Disease researchers.
