Soo-Kyung Lee: A new influence in transcription

Soo-Kyung Lee rushes into her cramped lab at Baylor College of Medicine, apologizing for her lateness?all of two minutes. She opens the door of a spartan office, large enough for a wrap- around desk and a small conference table. The room had been carved out of her lab space she explains later: "I wanted to have my office inside of the lab to have more interaction."

The decision is typical, according to colleagues. "She is a true lab rat," says Samuel Pfaff, her postdoctoral advisor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. "She really loves being at the bench." And that's clear when the 30-year-old assistant professor leaps to the white board to illustrate an unfamiliar concept.

Terry Halsey Photography

Lee joined Pfaff's lab in 2001 after completing a PhD from Chonnam National University in Korea. This meant adjusting not only to a new country but also an entirely new experimental approach?moving from classical biochemistry and molecular analysis of transcription factors to developmental neurobiology. Lee bent her laser-like focus to the task. "Soo did spectacularly well," Pfaff says. "She's confident in her abilities, and I think she adapted very easily."

In little more than three years, Lee helped pioneer the first molecular and biochemical studies of genes important in neural development. She showed that two transcription factors, Isl-1 and Lhx-3, physically interact to drive transcription of genes involved in motor neurogenesis in the spinal cord.¹ Pfaff says her unique combination of techniques is beginning to influence the field. "Others are beginning to use her general approach to look at other transcriptional pathways in the developing nervous system," he notes.

Baylor University picked her up in 2004. Hugo Bellen, director of the school's program in developmental biology, says her unusual knack for combining techniques enables remarkable productivity. Although she hasn't published yet at Baylor, her lab has identified approximately 100 potential downstream target genes of the Isl-1/Lhx-3 complex, and they intend to interrogate them in a variety of ways. Asked whether her research agenda seems rather ambitious, she demurs: "It's enough to entertain me and our lab people for a while." Her drive quickly impressed colleagues at Baylor; only six months after her arrival in July 2004, she was named one of 15 Pew Scholars for 2005. The $240,000 award requires institutional nomination.

Although she says the transition from postdoc to PI has been perhaps even more challenging than the adjustments during her postdoc, Lee has begun to settle into her role as a lab head. She's even found time for classes at Houston's Glassell School of Art. "I wanted to do something different, not only work in the lab for hours and hours," she says. But the science is never far from her mind.