June Lee is an adjunct professor in the

UCSF School of Medicine The UCSF School of Medicine is a multisite medical school of the University of California, San Francisco, with a historical campus located at the base of Mount Sutro on the Parnassus Heights campus in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1864 b ...

, biotech executive, and medical doctor with expertise in

pulmonary The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart. Their function in the respiratory syste ...

critical care medicine Intensive care medicine, usually called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes ...

and

translational research Translational research (also called translation research, translational science, or, when the context is clear, simply translation) is research aimed at translating (converting) results in basic research into results that directly benefit humans ...

Background

June Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea, and immigrated to United States at age 10. June, her two brothers, and her parents settled in southern California. She graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills. She developed interest in medicine and science early in part due to a familial hereditary condition. She received her undergraduate degree in chemistry at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

in 1988, and earned her medical degree at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

in 1992. She performed residency in internal medicine at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

and fellowship in pulmonary and critical medicine at

UCSF The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life ...

Career

Hospital work

Lee served as the medical director of the High-Risk Asthma Clinic at

San Francisco General Hospital The Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG) is a public hospital in San Francisco, California, under the purview of the city's Department of Public Health. It serves as the only Level I trauma c ...

. She maintained an independent research program prior to

Genentech Genentech, Inc. is an American biotechnology corporation headquartered in South San Francisco, California. It operates as an independent subsidiary of holding company Roche. Genentech Research and Early Development operates as an independent cent ...

, funded by the

American Lung Association The American Lung Association is a voluntary health organization whose mission is to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through education, advocacy and research. History 1904–1918: Founding The organization was ...

, to investigate IL-13 induced transcription, among other pulmonary treatments.

Genentech

Lee joined the clinical development organization at Genentech initially to help launch a new biologic treatment for asthma (the data from a large respiratory study – TENOR – that resulted in multiple insights into risk factors and demographics for asthma sufferers).

UCSF

Lee holds a professorship at UCSF in the School of Medicine. She was the director of Early Translational Research at UCSF. From 2011 to 2017, Lee served as the director of the Catalyst Program inside UCSF, which served as an internal incubator for entrepreneurial ideas from faculty, in addition to providing de-risking outsourcing partnerships and educational modules for graduate students.

MyoKardia

Lee served as the chief operating officer and chief development officer for MyoKardia. Myokardia was acquired by

Bristol Myers Squibb The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Trade name, doing business as Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies ...

for $13.1 billion in November 2020.

Esker Therapeutics

June was the President and Founding CEO of Esker Therapeutics.

Other

She is a member of the board of directors for Novus Therapeutics, GenEdit and serves on the scientific advisory board for Foresite Labs and Aer Therapeutics. She also serves on the advisory board for the

Center for Therapeutic Translation.

Public service

Lee has been a volunteer member of the Council of Korean Americans since 2013, and currently sits on its board of directors and previously served as chair of the board. She has served previously as chair of the Drug, Device, Discovery, and Development Workgroup of UC BRAID (University of California Biomedical Research Acceleration Integration and Development). Lee is a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

American College of Chest Physicians The American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) is a medical association in the United States consisting of physicians and non-physician specialists in the field of chest medicine, which includes pulmonology, critical care medicine Intensiv ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, June Date of birth missing (living people) Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Johns Hopkins University alumni University of California, Davis alumni American internists American pulmonologists American medical researchers UCSF School of Medicine faculty American chief operating officers American physicians of Korean descent South Korean emigrants to the United States American women academics 21st-century American women physicians 21st-century American physicians Women internists