Division of Biology and Medicine
Warren Alpert Physician-Scientist MD/PhD and Advanced Training Program

Lee Joanne

Neuroscience Graduate Program
Research Interests intellectual disability, cellular and molecular neuroscience, sensory biology, neurodegeneration

Biography

Joanne Lee (she/her) is originally from Iowa and received her degrees in biology and literary arts from Brown University. Her undergraduate research in the O’Connor-Giles lab was on the potential role of the TRAPP complex, a known ER-Golgi tether, as a synaptic tether at the presynaptic membrane. She has also worked with Dr. Liang Cheng in literature on urologic cancers and with the Malik lab on the recovery of consciousness after head trauma. Outside of the lab, she is interested in working with the disability community, and is the founder and leader of the pre-clinical elective “Disability in Medicine” at Warren Alpert Medical School, which had its first semester of classes in the spring of 2025. In her free time, she writes fiction and enjoys Providence’s vibrant restaurant scene.

Publications

Joanne Lee, Fei Chen, Antonio Lopez-Beltran, Necchi Andrea, Alessia Cimadamore, Philippe E. Spiess, Roger Li, Sinchita Roy-Chowdhuri, Rodolfo Montironi, Dragan Golijanin, Liang Cheng. Urinary Tumor DNA (utDNA)-based Liquid Biopsy in Bladder Cancer Management. European Urology Focus. 2025 August 5

-Featured abstract and commentary on UroToday’s “Beyond the Abstract” series

Yibo Shi, Hanzhang Wang, Borivoj Golijanin, Ali Amin, Joanne Lee, Mark Sikov, Elias Hyams, Gyan Pareek, Benedito A. Carneiro, Anthony E. Mega, Galina G. Lagos, Lisha Wang, Zhiping Wang, Liang Cheng. Ductal, Intraductal, and Cribriform Carcinoma of the Prostate: Molecular Characteristics and Clinical Management. Urologic Oncology Seminars and Original Investigations. 2024 March 13

Brian McMillen, Joanne Lee. Temporal Arteritis Pathology. Medscape. 2025 September 3 https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1612591-overview#a1