Robert Lee, PhD

Professor

Pharmaceutics and Pharmacology

Research Areas: The Division of Pharmaceutics & Pharmacology, Nanotechnology & Drug Delivery Systems, Cancer

Professional Interests

Dr. Lee's lab is focused on targeted drug delivery systems based on nanoparticles. Nanoparticles can serve as carriers of therapeutic agents, including nucleic acids such as siRNA, miRNA and anti-miRs, and facilitate their therapeutic delivery. The lab's effort is focused on improving nanoparticle composition based on rational design and directed at clinical applications. Ongoing projects include developing miR-targeting lipid nanoparticles and targeted chemotherapeutic drug formulations and bioconjugates for therapy of solid tumors, leukemias, diabetic wounds, and other diseases.

Education

1994, PhD, Purdue University, Biological Sciences
1989, BS, Peking University, Biology

Publications

Yan C, Shi W, Gu J, Lee RJ, Zhang Y. Design of a Novel Nucleus-Targeted NLS- KALA-SA Nanocarrier to Delivery Poorly Water-Soluble Anti-Tumor Drug for Lung Cancer Treatment. J Pharm Sci. 2021 Jun;110(6):2432-2441. doi: 10.1016/j.xphs.2020.12.034. Epub 2021 Jan 5. PMID: 33412169.
Sun X, Yu K, Zhou Y, Dong S, Hu W, Sun Y, Li Y, Xie J, Lee RJ, Sun F, Ma Y, Wang S, Kim BYS, Wang Y, Yang Z, Jiang W, Li Y, Teng L. Self-Assembled pH- Sensitive Polymeric Nanoparticles for the Inflammation-Targeted Delivery of Cu/Zn-Superoxide Dismutase. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021 Apr 21;13(15):18152-18164. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c03589. Epub 2021 Mar 25. PMID: 33764751.
He C, Zhang X, Chen C, Liu X, Chen Y, Yan R, Fan T, Gai Y, Lee RJ, Ma X, Luo J, Lu Y, Yang T, Xiang G. A solid lipid coated calcium peroxide nanocarrier enables combined cancer chemo/chemodynamic therapy with O₂/H₂O₂ self-sufficiency. Acta Biomater. 2021 Mar 1;122:354-364. doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2020.12.036. Epub 2021 Jan 6. PMID: 33359323.
Zhao M, Zhu T, Chen J, Cui Y, Zhang X, Lee RJ, Sun F, Li Y, Teng L. PLGA/PCADK composite microspheres containing hyaluronic acid-chitosan siRNA nanoparticles: A rational design for rheumatoid arthritis therapy. Int J Pharm. 2021 Mar 1;596:120204. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2021.120204. Epub 2021 Jan 23. PMID: 33493604.
Bobba CM, Fei Q, Shukla V, Lee H, Patel P, Putman RK, Spitzer C, Tsai M, Wewers MD, Lee RJ, Christman JW, Ballinger MN, Ghadiali SN, Englert JA. Nanoparticle delivery of microRNA-146a regulates mechanotransduction in lung macrophages and mitigates injury during mechanical ventilation. Nat Commun. 2021 Jan 12;12(1):289. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-20449-w. PMID: 33436554; PMCID: PMC7804938.
Sugar SS, Heyob KM, Cheng X, Lee RJ, Rogers LK. Perinatal inflammation alters histone 3 and histone 4 methylation patterns: Effects of MiR-29b supplementation. Redox Biol. 2021 Jan;38:101783. doi: 10.1016/j.redox.2020.101783. Epub 2020 Nov 7. PMID: 33202301; PMCID: PMC7677713.
Kuo CT, Lee R, Garzon R. Methods Used to Make Lipid Nanoparticles to Deliver LNA Gapmers Against lncRNAs into Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Blasts. Methods Mol Biol. 2021;2348:167-174. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1581-2_11. PMID: 34160806.
Zhou X, Brown BA, Siegel AP, El Masry MS, Zeng X, Song W, Das A, Khandelwal P, Clark A, Singh K, Guda PR, Gorain M, Timsina L, Xuan Y, Jacobson SC, Novotny MV, Roy S, Agarwal M, Lee RJ, Sen CK, Clemmer DE, Ghatak S. Exosome-Mediated Crosstalk between Keratinocytes and Macrophages in Cutaneous Wound Healing. ACS Nano. 2020 Oct 27;14(10):12732-12748. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.0c03064. Epub 2020 Sep 25. PMID: 32931251; PMCID: PMC7970718.
Wang C, Hao J, Liu X, Li C, Yuan X, Lee RJ, Bai T, Wang D. Isoforsythiaside Attenuates Alzheimer's Disease via Regulating Mitochondrial Function Through the PI3K/AKT Pathway. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Aug 8;21(16):5687. doi: 10.3390/ijms21165687. PMID: 32784451; PMCID: PMC7460834.
Papaioannou D, Petri A, Dovey OM, Terreri S, Wang E, Collins FA, Woodward LA, Walker AE, Nicolet D, Pepe F, Kumchala P, Bill M, Walker CJ, Karunasiri M, Mrózek K, Gardner ML, Camilotto V, Zitzer N, Cooper JL, Cai X, Rong-Mullins X, Kohlschmidt J, Archer KJ, Freitas MA, Zheng Y, Lee RJ, Aifantis I, Vassiliou G, Singh G, Kauppinen S, Bloomfield CD, Dorrance AM, Garzon R. Author Correction: The long non-coding RNA HOXB-AS3 regulates ribosomal RNA transcription in NPM1-mutated acute myeloid leukemia. Nat Commun. 2020 Jul 29;11(1):3878. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-17746-9. Erratum for: Nat Commun. 2019 Nov 25;10(1):5351. PMID: 32728019; PMCID: PMC7391355.
Li Y, Ding J, Xu X, Shi R, Saw PE, Wang J, Chung S, Li W, Aljaeid BM, Lee RJ, Tao W, Teng L, Farokhzad OC, Shi J. Dual Hypoxia-Targeting RNAi Nanomedicine for Precision Cancer Therapy. Nano Lett. 2020 Jul 8;20(7):4857-4863. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c00757. Epub 2020 Jun 8. PMID: 32479088; PMCID: PMC7405292.
Dou B, Hu W, Song M, Lee RJ, Zhang X, Wang D. Anti-inflammation of Erianin in dextran sulphate sodium-induced ulcerative colitis mice model via collaborative regulation of TLR4 and STAT3. Chem Biol Interact. 2020 Jun 1;324:109089. doi: 10.1016/j.cbi.2020.109089. Epub 2020 Apr 6. PMID: 32272095.
Zheng Z, Lang T, Huang X, Wang G, Lee RJ, Teng L, Yin Q, Li Y. Calcitriol- Loaded Dual-pH-Sensitive Micelle Counteracts Pro-Metastasis Effect of Paclitaxel in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Therapy. Adv Healthc Mater. 2020 Jun;9(12):e2000392. doi: 10.1002/adhm.202000392. Epub 2020 May 17. PMID: 32419319.
Chen Y, Chen C, Zhang X, He C, Zhao P, Li M, Fan T, Yan R, Lu Y, Lee RJ, Khan MW, Sarfraz M, Ma X, Yang T, Xiang G. Platinum complexes of curcumin delivered by dual-responsive polymeric nanoparticles improve chemotherapeutic efficacy based on the enhanced anti-metastasis activity and reduce side effects. Acta Pharm Sin B. 2020 Jun;10(6):1106-1121. doi: 10.1016/j.apsb.2019.10.011. Epub 2019 Nov 1. PMID: 32642416; PMCID: PMC7332658.
Xie J, Bi Y, Zhang H, Dong S, Teng L, Lee RJ, Yang Z. Cell-Penetrating Peptides in Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases: From Preclinical Research to Clinical Application. Front Pharmacol. 2020 May 20;11:697. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2020.00697. PMID: 32508641; PMCID: PMC7251059.
Chen Y, Lu Y, Lee RJ, Xiang G. Nano Encapsulated Curcumin: And Its Potential for Biomedical Applications. Int J Nanomedicine. 2020 May 1;15:3099-3120. doi: 10.2147/IJN.S210320. PMID: 32431504; PMCID: PMC7200256.
Sun Z, Xie Y, Lee RJ, Chen Y, Jin Q, Lv Q, Wang J, Yang Y, Li Y, Cai Y, Wang R, Han Z, Zhang L, Xie M. Myocardium-targeted transplantation of PHD2 shRNA- modified bone mesenchymal stem cells through ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction protects the heart from acute myocardial infarction. Theranostics. 2020 Apr 6;10(11):4967-4982. doi: 10.7150/thno.43233. PMID: 32308762; PMCID: PMC7163444.
Zhang X, He C, Liu X, Chen Y, Zhao P, Chen C, Yan R, Li M, Fan T, Altine B, Yang T, Lu Y, Lee RJ, Gai Y, Xiang G. One-pot synthesis of a microporous organosilica-coated cisplatin nanoplatform for HIF-1-targeted combination cancer therapy. Theranostics. 2020 Feb 3;10(7):2918-2929. doi: 10.7150/thno.41077. PMID: 32194844; PMCID: PMC7053205.
Bi Y, Lv B, Li L, Lee RJ, Xie J, Qiu Z, Teng L. A Liposomal Formulation for Improving Solubility and Oral Bioavailability of Nifedipine. Molecules. 2020 Jan 14;25(2):338. doi: 10.3390/molecules25020338. PMID: 31947655; PMCID: PMC7024191.
Papaioannou D, Petri A, Dovey OM, Terreri S, Wang E, Collins FA, Woodward LA, Walker AE, Nicolet D, Pepe F, Kumchala P, Bill M, Walker CJ, Karunasiri M, Mrózek K, Gardner ML, Camilotto V, Zitzer N, Cooper JL, Cai X, Rong-Mullins X, Kohlschmidt J, Archer KJ, Freitas MA, Zheng Y, Lee RJ, Aifantis I, Vassiliou G, Singh G, Kauppinen S, Bloomfield CD, Dorrance AM, Garzon R. Publisher Correction: The long non-coding RNA HOXB-AS3 regulates ribosomal RNA transcription in NPM1-mutated acute myeloid leukemia. Nat Commun. 2020 Jan 7;11(1):204. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-13969-7. Erratum for: Nat Commun. 2019 Nov 25;10(1):5351. PMID: 31911614; PMCID: PMC6946642.