Byron Lee, MD, PhD
Joint Staff
Location:
Cleveland Clinic Main Campus
Research
I am a urologic oncologist and surgeon-scientist focused on using modern scientific tools to improve the management of urothelial cancers of the bladder and upper tract. Chromatin modifiers control how DNA is organized inside a cell's nucleus, and they are mutated in the majority of urothelial cancers. Mutations in these genes can substantially alter a cell's behavior. We are investigating how chromatin modifier mutations act to promote urothelial cancer development and potentially render these cancers susceptible to novel drug combinations.
Biography
Byron Lee, MD, PhD is a surgeon/scientist with a primary appointment in the Department of Urology of the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute and a secondary appointment in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine of the Lerner Research Institute.
He attended medical and graduate school at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and completed urology residency at Cleveland Clinic. After residency, he spent one year as a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University’s Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine before completing a fellowship in urologic oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Dr. Lee’s primary clinical interests include bladder cancer, kidney cancer, and testis cancer. His research focuses on understanding how genomic and epigenetic alterations contribute to the development of bladder cancer, its progression, and its response to therapy.
Education & Professional Highlights
Education & Fellowships
Fellowship - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Urologic Oncology
New York, NY USA
2016
Fellowship - Stanford University Hospital
Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
Stanford, CA USA
2014
Residency - Cleveland Clinic
Urology
Cleveland, OH USA
2013
Medical Education - Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD USA
2007
Graduate School - Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD USA
2007
Undergraduate - Johns Hopkins University
Biology
Baltimore, MD USA
1998
Certifications
- Urology
Research
Bladder cancer is the fifth most common malignancy diagnosed in the United States; however, few new treatment options have been approved by the FDA for the last several decades. Molecular characterization data from The Cancer Genome Atlas and other groups demonstrate that almost all urothelial carcinomas of the bladder harbor a chromatin modifier gene mutation. Our lab is focused on understanding the effects of chromatin modifier mutations on the initiation and progression of urothelial cancers of the bladder and upper tract. We are also examining how gene expression changes caused by chromatin modifier mutations interact with other commonly mutated pathways in urothelial cancers such as RTK-RAS-RAF and PI3K-AKT-MTOR to influence therapeutic response and resistance.
Our Team
Selected Publications
Careers
Research News
A multidisciplinary research team co-led by Dr. Angela Ting and Dr. Byron Lee has conducted a comprehensive analysis of the cell populations within the human ureter.
Drs. Lee, Ting and Wessely will examine human ureter and bladder tissues in males and females at various ages and construct a cellular and molecular anatomical map of the organs.
Drs. Mian, Gupta and Hwang—a multi-disciplinary team of researchers and clinicians—will look for ways to optimize immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, including testing novel combinatory treatments and identifying predictive biomarkers of treatment response.