She is known for her work on X-chromosome inactivation and for discovering the functions of a new class of epigenetic regulators known as long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), including Xist and Tsix.
Jeannie T. Lee received an AB from Harvard College in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and an MD/PhD in 1993[1] from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Lee joined the faculty at Harvard in 1997 and devoted her studies to noncoding RNA and sex chromosome dynamics during development and disease.
In a 2013 interview, she stated that this group of RNAs excited her because they control gene expression in a locus-specific way, by recruiting chromatin modifying activities to the locus, making the lncRNAs excellent drug design targets.
Her research has led to groundbreaking contributions, and we now have a better understanding of the unique role that long non-coding RNAs play in gene expression, which could lead to the development of new therapeutics.”[13] Lee was President of the Genetics Society of America,[14] Codirector of the Harvard Epigenetics Initiative, and is Vice Chair of the Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School.