She is Executive Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and the David Lee Shillinglaw Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Chicago.
She investigates the functionality of lung surfactant, mechanisms of antimicrobial peptides, sealing effects of polymers and recognition of lipids in receptors that regulate immunity.
[5][6] She looks to control biomembranes that can mimic real-life systems to understand Alzheimer's disease and respiratory distress syndrome.
Using transmission electron microscopy, her group studied the self-assembly of myelin lipids into tubules and subsequent transition into lamellar.
[15] Her research group developed a self-healing gel that works underwater; a synthetic version of the substance that mussels use to anchor to rocks in the ocean.
[18] Her group went on to study the mechanical properties of hydrogels regulated by pH, demonstrating it is possible to design a range of synthetic materials using mimicry of mussel proteins.
Lee served as a member of the steering committees of the University of Chicago centres in Beijing and Hong Kong.
[31] She stepped away from the role in March 2023 to assume the position of executive vice president for strategic initiatives at the university.