Duke University · BiochemistryLee Sensory Lab
Seok-Yong Lee · Durham, North Carolina
Research Focus
Dr. Seok-Yong Lee's lab at Duke University focuses on understanding how our bodies perceive different types of sensory information, like temperature and pain, through specialized proteins called sensory receptors. The goal is to uncover the molecular mechanisms that allow these receptors to function and to explore how genetic mutations can lead to sensory disorders. By doing this, the lab aims to develop new, non-opioid drugs to effectively treat chronic pain and itching without the side effects associated with current pain medications.
sensory receptorsion channelsnociceptionchronic paindrug targetingpharmacologyneurobiologymolecular biologycomputational biology
Research Aims
5AIM 01Understand the molecular basis of how sensory receptors detect stimuli.
AIM 02Investigate the effects of mutations on sensory receptor function and diseases.
AIM 03Develop small molecules that target sensory receptors for pain relief.
AIM 04Explore the signaling pathways involved in sensory perception.
AIM 05Integrate structural and functional studies to create a model of sensory receptor activity.
Skills the Lab Values
structural biologycell culturepharmacological assaysmolecular modelingdrug designRNA sequencingmouse modelsmicroscopyflow cytometry
Output against the department
Publications301top 21% of dept.83rd of 402
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations7.0kbottom 38% of dept.249th of 402
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.