Dr. Francis Lee is an accomplished neurobiologist and psychiatrist studying the molecular basis of mood and anxiety disorders, with the goal of understanding why many of them emerge during the transition from childhood to adolescence. By combining basic and translational approaches, Dr. Lee’s discoveries have led to the development of advanced biologically targeted psychiatric diagnostic tools and treatments. He has published nearly 100 original studies in peer-reviewed journals, plus nearly 30 reviews and four book chapters.
Dr. Lee earned his bachelor’s degree with highest honors from Princeton University and his medical degree and a doctorate from the University of Michigan, followed by psychiatry residency training at the Payne Whitney Clinic at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He completed postdoctoral training in molecular neuroscience at the Skirball Institute, New York University and the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Lee joined Weill Cornell Medicine’s faculty in 2002 and in 2018 was named chair of the Department of Psychiatry and psychiatrist-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He currently holds professor appointments at Weill Cornell Medicine in psychiatry, pharmacology and neuroscience.
Dr. Lee has served on several panels and boards at the National Institutes of Health and national mental health foundations, and has received numerous honors and awards including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and the Burroughs Wellcome Clinical Scientist Award. He has been elected a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians and the National Academy of Medicine.