Our lab team is made up of enthusiastic and highly skilled scientists who work collaboratively to understand the basic mechanisms of epithelial cell physiology to reveal new insights into the pathophysiology of chronic rhinosinusitis and cystic fibrosis, in collaboration with the Penn Rhinology Lab. We also study mechanisms of cell signaling in head and neck cancer, working closely with the Carey Lab.
Current Lee Lab Members
Principle Investigator (2015-present)
Associate Professor of Otorhinolaryngology (primary) and Physiology (secondary)
Email: rjl [at] pennmedicine.upenn.edu
[More info]
Rachel Horn
Summer Undergraduate Student from Drexel University (2019)
Veronika Yakovishina
University of Pennsylvania Pharmacology Graduate Group
Rotation Student, Spring-Summer 2019
Jenna Freund
Research Specialist (Oct. 2016-June 2018)
Currently: PhD student in neuroscience at Einstein (Tishman Scholarship Recipient)
Benjamin (Ben) Hariri
Year-out postbac student (2015-2016)
Currently: ENT chief resident at NYU
Andrew Hart
Immunology Graduate Group Rotation Student (Spring 2017)
Currently: Penn postdoc with Terry Laufer (graduated 2024)
Maddie Johnson
Part-time undergraduate Student (Summer 2016)
Currently: Clinical Specialist at Medtronic
Supriya Saxena
Part-time lab member (independent study project 2017)
University of Pennsylvania Biotechnology Masters Student
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Currently: Data Analyst at IQVIA
Paige Johnson
Part-time lab member (Summer 2017)
Maureen Victoria
Lab Manager/Research Specialist (2015-present)
Research: Taste receptor expression in airway cells, development of novel tools for studying signaling of taste receptors and other airway GPCRs
Critical Role: Keeping the lab from descending into chaos
Notable hobby: Beekeeping
Research: Taste receptor expression in airway cells, development of novel tools for studying signaling of taste receptors and other airway GPCRs
Critical Role: Keeping the lab from descending into chaos
Notable hobby: Beekeeping
Inès Kouakou
Postdoctoral Fellow (2022-present)
Joel Thompson
Research Specialist (2023-present)
April Park
Penn undergraduate researcher (2023-present)
Jordan Williams
Penn PGG PhD student (Summer 2023-present)
Alex Simon
Postdoctoral Fellow (Summer 2023-present)
Nabil Darwich
Penn ENT resident researcher (2024-2025 research rotation)
Co-mentored with Ryan Carey
Ray Ma
Penn Undergraduate Researcher (Summer 2024 - present)
Summer high school student (Summer 2021 and Summer 2022)
Louis-Xavier Barrette (coming soon!)
Penn ENT resident researcher (2025-2026 research rotation)
Co-mentored with Ryan Carey
Maggie Heller (coming soon!)
Penn ENT resident researcher (2025-2026 research rotation)
Co-mentored with Ryan Carey
Lab Alumni
Zoey Miller
Penn Pharmacology Graduate Student (2020-2024)
Blavatnik Fellow, Pharmacology T32 fellow
Currently: Postdoc in Ed Morrisey's lab, UPenn
Arielle Mueller
Penn undergraduate researcher (2022-2024)
Currently: Penn Masters in Bioethics student
Robert D Wardlow, II
Penn ENT resident researcher (2023-2024 research rotation)
mentored with Ryan Carey
Currently: Penn ENT chief resident
Kimberly Wei
Penn Med Summer Student (Summer 2023)
mentored with Ryan Carey
Currently: Penn Med MS3
Aria Garrett
Penn PGG rotation student (summer 2023)
Currently: Penn PGG student with Vera Moiseenkova-Bell
Derek McMahon
Postdoctoral Fellow (2016-2022)
Currently: Research Scientist at Integral Molecular
Jennifer (Jenn) Jolivert
Penn Med Year Out Student (2021-2022)
NIDCD Fellow
Currently: Birmingham and Women's/Harvard Psych Residency
Sahil Muthuswami
Brandeis undergraduate researcher (Summer 2022)
Penn Summer Undergraduate Internship Program
Currently: Brandeis undergraduate
Ryan M. Carey
Otorhinolaryngology Resident Researcher (2020-2023)
Currently: Head and Neck Cancer Fellow at University of Miami -> Started as Penn faculty Aug 2023
Indiwari (Indi) Gopallawa
Postdoctoral Fellow (2018-2021)
Postdoctoral Fellow (2018-2021)
Currently: Senior Scientist, AstraZeneca
Li Eon Kuek
Postdoctoral Fellow (2018-2021)
Currently: Director of Scientific and Medical Development, Citrin Foundation, Singapore
Li Eon Kuek
Postdoctoral Fellow (2018-2021)
Currently: Director of Scientific and Medical Development, Citrin Foundation, Singapore
Rachel Horn
Summer Undergraduate Student from Drexel University (2019)
Currently: Widener University School of Nursing -> Trauma/Neuro/ENT nurse at Jefferson
Veronika Yakovishina
University of Pennsylvania Pharmacology Graduate Group
Rotation Student, Spring-Summer 2019
Currently: Research Specialist, Wistar
Jenna Freund
Research Specialist (Oct. 2016-June 2018)
Currently: PhD student in neuroscience at Einstein (Tishman Scholarship Recipient)
Year-out postbac student (2015-2016)
Currently: ENT chief resident at NYU
Immunology Graduate Group Rotation Student (Spring 2017)
Currently: Penn postdoc with Terry Laufer (graduated 2024)
Part-time undergraduate Student (Summer 2016)
Currently: Clinical Specialist at Medtronic
Supriya Saxena
Part-time lab member (independent study project 2017)
University of Pennsylvania Biotechnology Masters Student
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Currently: Data Analyst at IQVIA
Paige Johnson
Part-time lab member (Summer 2017)
Currently: Physical therapist (DPT)
