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Adrian Lee, PhD

Professor; Pittsburgh Foundation Chair in Precision Medicine
Assembly Building #2079
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
leeav@upmc.edu
Phone: 412-641-7557
Fax: 412-641-2458

Education

BSc (Biochemistry), University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, England, 1989
PhD, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, England, 1993
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, 1997

Links

Headshot of Adrian Lee, PhD

Labs

The Lee/Oesterreich lab studies the molecular basis of breast cancer development and resistance to therapy, with the goal to improve precision medicine and outcomes for breast cancer patients. The laboratory employs a systems biology approach, utilizing a combination of single cell and bulk sequencing, computational methods and biological models to identify and validate new drivers and therapeutic targets. Hypotheses are tested in vitro and in vivo and then moved to clinical trials. The majority of studies incorporate analysis of human specimens, in collaboration with a large network of clinicians and nurses. This includes computational analysis and modeling of large biomedical and genomic datasets including electronic health record data. A major focus of the laboratory is identifying mechanisms of resistance to endocrine therapy, and new approaches to blocking breast cancer metastasis through precision medicine. This includes the study of estrogen receptor (ESR1) mutations and fusions and synergism with growth factor pathways. A special focus is on the understanding of invasive lobular cancer (ILC), the second most common but understudied histological subtype of breast cancer.

The laboratory has a very strong training environment, with attention to each individuals’ successful career development. One of the top priorities is to maintain a healthy lab environment, ensuring high productivity and rigor.


 

 

Journal Articles

Li Z, Levine KM, Bahreini A, Wang P, Chu D, Park BH, Oesterreich S and Lee AV. Upregulation of IRS1 enhances IGF1 response in Y537S and D538G ESR1 mutant breast cancer cells. Endocrinology 159:285-296, 2018.
Priedigkeit N, Watters RJ, Lucas PC, Basudan A, Bhargava R, Horne W, Kolls JK, Fang Z, Rosenzweig MQ, Brufsky AM, Weiss KR, Oesterreich S and Lee AV. Exome-capture RNA sequencing of decade-old breast cancers and matched decalcified bone metastases. JCI Insight 2:e95703, 2017.
Priedigkeit N, Hartmaier RJ, Chen Y, Vareslija D, Basudan A, Watters RJ, Thomas R, Leone JP, Lucas PC,  Bhargava R, Hamilton RL, Chmielecki J, Puhalla SL, Davidson NE, Oesterreich S, Brufsky AM, Young L and Lee AV. Intrinsic subtype switching and acquired ERBB2/HER2 amplifications and mutations in breast cancer brain metastases. JAMA Oncol 3:666-671, 2017.
 
Bahreini A, Levine K, Santana-Santos L, Benos P, Wang P, Andersen C, Oesterreich S and Lee AV. Non-coding single nucleotide variants affecting estrogen receptor binding and activity. Genome Med 8:128, 2016.
Gyanchandani R, Lin Y, Lin HM, Cooper KL, Normolle DP, Brufsky AM, Fastuca M, Crosson W, Oesterreich S, Davidson NE, Bhargava R, Dabbs DJ and Lee AV. Intra-tumor heterogeneity affects gene expression profile test prognostic risk stratification in early breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res 22:5362-5369, 2016. 
Farabaugh SM, Chan BT, Cui X, Dearth RK and Lee AV. Lack of interaction between ErbB2 and insulin receptor substrate signaling in breast cancer. Cell Commun Signal 14:25, 2016. 
Katz TA, Liao S, V Palmieri,, Dearth RK, Pathiraja TN, Huo Z, Shaw P, Small S, Davidson NE, Peters DG, Tseng G,  Oesterreich S and Lee AV. Targeted DNA methylation screen in the mouse mammary genome reveals a parity-induced hypermethylation of IGF1R which persists long after parturition.  Cancer Prev Res 8:1000-1009, 2015.
 
 
Casa AJ, Hochbaum D, Sreekumar S, Oesterreich S and Lee AV. The estrogen receptor alpha nuclear localization sequence is critical for fulvestrant-induced degradation of the receptor. Mol Cell Endocrinol 415:76-86, 2015.