Janice Lee, DDS, MD, MS

Senior Clinician

Craniofacial Anomalies & Regeneration Section

NIDCR

Clinical Director

NIDCR

NIH NIDCR
Building 10, Room 5-2531 MSC 1470
Bethesda MD 20892-1470

301-827-1647

janice.lee@nih.gov

Research Topics

The mission of the Craniofacial Anomalies and Regeneration Section is to understand craniofacial development and bone formation through human disorders that affect the normal development, growth and formation of the craniofacial skeleton. We focus on determining the genetic etiology and molecular changes in conditions such as hemifacial microsomia and mandibular prognathism, disorders that are identified at birth or may progress with growth respectively. We intend to understand the progression of these conditions and develop predictive tools to guide clinicians in therapy and timing of intervention. Through scientific high performance computing, we will use the latest methods in bioinformatics, biomedical imaging, and research information systems to further our understanding of these craniofacial anomalies. Many of the conditions require reconstructive surgery and bone grafting due to underdevelopment or missing bone. To address these reconstructive dilemmas that require significant surgery, we focus on examining the regenerative ability of postnatal bone marrow stromal stem cells and other mesenchymal tissues. By developing animal models of skeletal defects, we are examining molecular and cellular variations that may induce self-repair or autotherapy and may be models for stem cell therapy.​

Biography

Before joining NIDCR in August 2013, Dr. Janice Lee was professor of clinical oral and maxillofacial surgery and departmental vice chair in the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Lee's clinical practice focused on craniofacial skeletal reconstruction for people born with cleft lip and palate and other craniofacial anomalies, especially hemifacial microsomia. Dr. Lee earned a DDS and an MS from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry and an MD from Harvard Medical School. She completed a residency in oral and maxillofacial surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard University and a two-year research fellowship in NIDCR’s Craniofacial and Skeletal Diseases Branch. Dr. Lee has published nearly 50 peer-reviewed journal articles, dozens of abstracts and poster presentations, and several book chapters.

Selected Publications

  1. Almpani K, Liberton DK, Jani P, Keyvanfar C, Mishra R, Curry N, Orzechowski P, Frischmeyer-Guerrerio PA, Lee JS. Loeys-Dietz and Shprintzen-Goldberg syndromes: analysis of TGF-β-opathies with craniofacial manifestations using an innovative multimodality method. J Med Genet. 2022;59(10):938-946.
  2. She X, Sun S, Damon BJ, Hill CN, Coombs MC, Wei F, Lecholop MK, Steed MB, Bacro TH, Slate EH, Zheng N, Lee JS, Yao H. Sexual dimorphisms in three-dimensional masticatory muscle attachment morphometry regulates temporomandibular joint mechanics. J Biomech. 2021;126:110623.
  3. Kidwai F, Mui BWH, Arora D, Iqbal K, Hockaday M, de Castro Diaz LF, Cherman N, Martin D, Myneni VD, Ahmad M, Futrega K, Ali S, Merling RK, Kaufman DS, Lee J, Robey PG. Lineage-specific differentiation of osteogenic progenitors from pluripotent stem cells reveals the FGF1-RUNX2 association in neural crest-derived osteoprogenitors. Stem Cells. 2020;38(9):1107-1123.
  4. Mui BWH, Arora D, Mallon BS, Martinez AF, Lee JS, Muenke M, Kruszka P, Kidwai FK, Robey PG. Generation of human induced pluripotent stem cell line (NIDCRi001-A) from a Muenke syndrome patient with an FGFR3 p.Pro250Arg mutation. Stem Cell Res. 2020;46:101823.
  5. PorrasPerez AR, Keating R, Lee J, Linguraru MG. Predictive Statistical Model of Early Cranial Development. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2022;69(2):537-546.

Related Scientific Focus Areas

This page was last updated on Wednesday, September 28, 2022