Dr. SangJoon Lee began his research career as a Ph.D. student at the University of Tsukuba, Japan, where he studied innate immune responses to influenza virus infection. He subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Tsukuba and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the United States, investigating innate immunity to viral infections and inflammatory cell death, including PANoptosis.

Dr. Lee joined the Department of Biological Sciences at UNIST in 2022 and is currently an Associate Professor. His research focuses on understanding how innate immune sensing and inflammatory cell death shape host responses to viral infections. His laboratory investigates inflammasomes, PANoptosis, and other innate immune pathways in infectious and inflammatory diseases, with the ultimate goal of translating these discoveries into novel therapeutic strategies.