Two IIT-Affiliated Faculty Receive Promotions
July 16, 2024
The IIT would like to congratulate affiliated faculty members, Dr. Kin Sing Lee and Dr. Ilce Medina Meza, who recently received faculty promotions to Associate Professor.
Dr. Kin Sing Stephen Lee is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Lee's laboratory focuses on using chemical biology methods to study the interactions between dietary lipids (what we eat), environmental chemicals (what we expose to) and human health (our body) in molecular level. They are particularly interested in studying the molecular mechanisms on how the dietary omega-3 (DHA or EPA) to omega-6 (e.g. soybean oil) ratio affects human health and human responses to environmental toxicants. The overall goal of Lee's research is to develop new chemical tools to elucidate the mechanism on how dietary lipids affect human health. The tools and the methods developed not only will help us better understand how these dietary lipids modulate human health but also could potentially be new therapeutics for different diseases.
Dr. Ilce Medina Meza is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. The goals of her laboratory are to elucidate molecular mechanisms governing oxidative stress, and to translate the findings to develop biomarkers for prevention and treatment of chronic diseases (e.g. cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases). Current projects are focused on 1) developing drug modulators of cholesterol oxidation to damp inflammation on cardiovascular disease, and 2) metabolomic mapping of oxysterols and other lipid peroxides for risk assessment in highly susceptible populations, 3) Fingerprinting of plant secondary metabolites and understanding its role in life processes.