Researcher Spotlight: Sang-Ho Lee

What is your professional background?
I have a broad range of scientific background. I received my bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in biochemistry studying bacterial genetics in Korea. I went to the University of California, Davis to study biochemistry and molecular biology for my PhD. Before I settled at Emory, my postdoctoral experience was in immunology at UC Berkeley. In 2010, I joined the Stem Cell Research Lab at Emory and I continue my journey in regenerative medicine.

In what division do you work, and who is your mentor?
Since coming to Emory, I have been working in the Division of Cardiology under the leadership of Dr. Taylor, and I have worked with Dr. Young-sup Yoon, who continuously provides academic, scientific, and professional advice.

Briefly describe your research. Why is it important?
My area of research is regenerative medicine for cardiovascular diseases at large, and more specifically, generating endothelial cells for cell therapy using stem cell technology. Endothelial cells are a critical component of blood vessels and are needed for tissue repair as well as various tissue engineering applications, but their regenerative capacity and availability are limited. To overcome this problem, in Dr. Yoon’s lab, I successfully generated endothelial-like cells demonstrating therapeutic potential in ischemic tissues using a direct cellular reprogramming strategy with the transcription factor, ETV2. Currently, in collaboration with Dr. Yoon, my research is focusing on studying the molecular mechanism of endothelial direct reprogramming and optimization of the process to increase reprogramming efficiency and clinical compatibility. My ultimate goal is to produce clinically compatible endothelial cells for repair of damaged tissues caused by various cardiovascular diseases.

What do you like most about Emory?
Emory provides a variety of collaboration and interdisciplinary research opportunities within Emory, as well as with other nearby institutes, through science alliance such as Georgia Tech.

What is your favorite movie or TV show?
I like “Grey’s Anatomy,” from which I named my son after one of the characters, and “Kingdom,” a zombie show on Netflix.

What do you like to do in your spare time?
I like to ride bike trails with my family and I enjoy simple yard work with my son.

What is a fun fact about you?
To support my son’s big interest, recurve archery (his dream is to be an Olympian), I became an “archery dad” and a level 2 instructor for USA Archery.