Benhur Lee MD

Pathology•New York, NY

Blood Banking & Transfusion Medicine, Anatomic Pathology, Clinical Pathology

Professor of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

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ONE GUSTAVE L. LEVY PLACE#1124New York, NY 10029
Phone+1 212-241-2552

Summary

Professor Benhur Lee is a virologist with wide-ranging research interests who joined the Department of Microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) in 2014. He holds the Ward-Coleman Chair in Microbiology. Prior to his recruitment to Mount Sinai, Dr. Lee spent 12+ years as a member of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics as well as the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles). He joined UCLA in 2001 as an Assistant Professor, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2007, and to full Professor in 2011. Dr. Lee graduated from Yale University School of Medicine in 1995 with an M.D. and induction into the National Medical Honor Society (Alpha Omega Alpha), and did his clinical and post-doctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center (1995-2001) where he also served as Chief Resident (1997). He worked on HIV fusion and entry during his post-doctoral years under Dr. Robert Doms (1997-2001).

Dr. Lee is board-certified in Clinical Pathology and was an attending physician on the Transfusion Medicine Service at UCLA.

Dr. Lee has a special interest in emerging paramyxoviruses such as henipaviruses. He has made substantial contributions to our understanding of henipavirus entry and budding mechanisms. His latest interests include engineering paramyxovirus-based vectors for gene therapy applications. Dr. Lee has published over 140 peer-reviewed publications (h index=47), and sits on multiple editorial boards. He is a member of the NIH recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC), and the ICTV Paramyxovirus study group. He has trained more than a dozen post-doctoral fellows, 16 graduate students, and has served on more than 60 PhD dissertation committees between UCLA and Mount Sinai.

Education & Training

University of Pennsylvania Health SystemResidency, Pathology-Anatomic and Clinical, 1995 - 2000
University of Pennsylvania Health SystemChief Residency, Pathology-Anatomic and Clinical, 1996 - 1997
Yale School of MedicineClass of 1995
Santa Clara UniversityBS, Magna cum laude, 1984 - 1988

Certifications & Licensure

CA State Medical License 2002 - 2023
American Board of Pathology Clinical Pathology

Awards, Honors, & Recognition

Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC) National Institutes of Health (NIH), 2016-2020
Paramyxoviridae Study Group International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, 2017
Scientific Advisor, Standards Working Group California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (SWG, CIRM), 2015-2017
International Advisory Board Member International Congress of Virology, 2011
Research featured in Scientific American, "Bad Wraps on Viruses" Scientific American 302: 21, 2010
Subject Matter Expert for Bioterrorism Threat Risk Assessment National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC), Department of Homeland Security, 2010
Dolph Adams Award J Leuk Biol (most highly cited paper from 2001-2006), 2006
Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award (K08) NHLBI, 2003
Culpepper Biomedical Research Scholar Rockefeller Brothers Fund, 2002
Career Development Award Burroughs Wellcome Fund, 2000
Measey Foundation Research Fellowship for Clinicians Wistar Institute, 1999
Leonard Berwick Residency Teaching Award 1999
Alpha Omega Alpha National Medical Honor Society, 1995
William U. Gardner Thesis Prize 1995
Farr Scholar Yale Sch. of Med, 1995
Howard Hughes Medical Student Training Fellowship Yale University School of Medicine, 1993
Gina Finzi Memorial Student Summer Fellowship Lupus Foundation of America, @Yale University School of Medicine, 1991
Magna Cum Laude Award Santa Clara University, 1988
Redwood Prize Santa Clara University, 1988
Sourisseau Prize Santa Clara University, 1988
Chamberlain Award 1988
Bolton Memorial Award Santa Clara University, 1987
Phi Beta Kappa 1987
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Publications & Presentations

PubMed

Evolutionary and structural basis of SLAMF1 utilization in morbilliviruses-Implications for host range and cross-species transmission.
Ayumu Hyodo, Fumio Seki, Kento Fukuda, Kaede Tashiro, Yuki Kitai
Plos Pathogens. 2025-06-01
Annual (2024) taxonomic update of RNA-directed RNA polymerase-encoding negative-sense RNA viruses (realm: kingdom: phylum).
Jens H Kuhn, Scott Adkins, Sergey V Alkhovsky Альховский Сергей Владимирович, Wenxia An 安雯霞, Tatjana Avšič-Županc
The Journal of General Virology. 2025-06-01
De novo antibody identification in human blood from full-length single B cell transcriptomics and matching haplotype-resolved germline assemblies.
John Beaulaurier, Lynn Ly, J Andrew Duty, Carly Tyer, Christian Stevens
Genome Research. 2025-04-14

Journal Articles

Development of a Neutralization Assay for Nipah Virus Using Pseudotype Particles.
A.Tamin, B. H. Harcourt, M. K. Lo, J. A. Roth, M. C. Wolf, B. Lee, H. Weingartl, J-C. Audonnet, W. J. Bellini and Paul A. Rota, J Virol Methods, 160:1-6
Expression and coreceptor function of APJ for primate immunodeficiency viruses.
Puffer BA, Sharron M, Coughlan CM, Baribaud F, McManus CM, Lee B, David J, Price K, Horuk R, Tsang M, Doms RW, Virology, 276:435-44
DC-SIGNR, a DC-SIGN homologue expressed in endothelial cells, binds to human and simian immunodeficiency viruses and activates infection in trans.
Pohlmann S, Soilleux EJ, Baribaud F, Leslie GJ, Morris LS, Trowsdale J, Lee, B, Coleman N, Doms RW, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 98:2670-2675
Palmitoylation of CCR5 is critical for receptor trafficking and efficient activation of intracellular signaling pathways.
Blanpain, C., V. Wittamer, J. M. Vanderwinden, A. Boom, B. Renneboog, B. Lee, E. Le Poul, L. El Asmar, C. Govaerts, G. Vassart, R. W. Doms, and M. Parmentier, J Biol Chem, 276: 23795-23804
CCR5 and CXCR4 surface expression associated wi th X4 and R5 HIV-1 infection yet not replication in Th1 and Th2 cells.
Moonis M., Lee, B., Bailer, R.T., Luo, Q., Montaner, L.J, AIDS, 15: 1941-1949
Placental expression of DC-SIGN may mediate intrauterine vertical transmission of HIV.
Soilleux, E.J., Morris, L. S., Lee, B., Pöhlmann, S., Doms, R.W., Trowsdale, J., Coleman, N, J Pathol, 195:586-592
Cis-expression of DC-SIGN allows for more efficient HIV/SIV entry via CD4 and coreceptor.
. Lee, B.*, Leslie, G., Soilleux, E., O’Doherty, U., Baik, S., Levroney, E., Flummerfelt, K., Swiggard, W., Coleman, N., Malim, M., Doms, R.W, J Virol, 75:12028-12038
HIV envelope (gp120) binding to DC-SIGN and primary dendritic cells is carbohydrate dependent but does not involve 2G12 or cyanovirin binding sites: implications for s...
Hong, P.W-P., Flummerfelt, K.F., deParseval, A., Elder, J.H., Lee, B, J Virol 76: 12855-12865
Specific interaction of feline immunodeficiency virus surface glycoprotein with human DC-SIGN.
deParseval, A., Su, SV., Elder, JH., Lee, B, J Virol, 78: 2597-2600
Rho-GTPase activity modulates paramyxovirus fusion protein-mediated cell-cell fusion.
R.M. Schowalter, M.A. Wurth, H.C. Aguilar, B. Lee, C.L. Moncman, R.O. McCann, R. Dutch., Virology, 350:323-34
Anthrax oedema toxin induces anthrax toxin receptor expression in monocyte-derived cells.
F.J. Maldonado-Arocho, J.A. Fulcher, B. Lee, K.A. Bradley, Mol Microbiol, 61:324-37
Efficient construction of an inverted minimal H1 promoter driven siRNA expression cassette: Facilitation of Promoter and siRNA sequence exchange.
H. Nassanian, A.M. Sanchez, A. Lo, K.A. Bradley, and B. Lee, PLoS ONE, 2(1):e767
Human milk oligosaccharides reduce HIV-1 gp120 binding to dendritic cell specific ICAM3-grabbing non-integrin DC-SIGN.
Hong PW, Ninonuevo MR, Lee, B., Lebrilla C., Bode L, British Journal of Nutrition, 101:482-486
Multiple non-functional alleles of CCR5 are frequent in various human populations.
Blanpain, C., Lee, B., Tackeon, M., Puffer, B., Boom, A., Libert, F., Sharron, M., Wittamer, Vassart, G., Doms, R.W., Parmentier, M, Blood, 96: 1638-1644
Combinatorial chloroquine and ribavirin treatment does not prevent death in a hamster model of Nipah and Hendra virus infection.
A. N. Freiberg, M. N. Worthy, B. Lee, M. R. Holbrook, J Gen Virol, 91:765-72
Interaction of human complement with viral particles containing the Nipah virus glycoproteins.
JB Johnson, HC Aguilar, B Lee, GD Parks, J Virol, 85:5940-8
Cysteines in the stalk of the Nipah virus G glycoprotein are located in a distinct subdomain critical for fusion activation.
Maar D, Harmon B, Chu D, Schulz B, Aguilar HC, Lee B*, Negrete OA, J Virol, 86:6632-42
Macrophage-tropic HIV-1 variants from brain demonstrate alterations in the way gp120 engages both CD4 and CCR5.
H Salimi, M Roche, N Webb, L Gray, K Chikere, J Sterjovski, A Ellett, S Wesselingh, P Ramsland, B Lee, M Churchill, and P Gorry, J Leuk Biol
Nipah virus envelope pseudotyped lentiviruses efficiently target ephrinB2+ stem cell populations in vitro and bypass the liver sink when administered in vivo.
K Palomares, O Pernet, F Vigant, K Chikere, P Hong, SP Sherman, B Van Handel, M Patterson, DS An, WE Lowry, HKA Mikkola, K Morizono, AD Pyle, B Lee, J Virol, in final revision
Molecular structure and function of autoantigens in systemic sclerosis.
Lee, B., and Craft, J, Intl Rev Immunol 12:129-144
An intricate web: chemokine receptors, HIV infection and hematopoiesis.
Lee, B., Doranz, B.J., Ratajczak, M.Z., Doms, R. W, Stem Cells 16: 79-88
Chemokine immunobiology in HIV-1 pathogenesis.
Lee, B., and Montaner, L.J, J Leuk Biol 65:552-562
Pathobiology of Henipavirus Entry: insights into therapeutic strategies.
Wolf, M., Negrete, O.A., and Lee, B, Future Virology, 2:267-82
Emerging paramyxoviruses: molecular mechanisms and antiviral strategies.
Aguilar, H. and Lee, B, Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine 13:e6
Containing the Contagion: Treating the Virus that Inspired the Film.
Lee, B, Science Translational Medicine, 3:105fs6
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Books/Book Chapters

Human Immunodeficiency Virus: Biology, Immunology and Molecular Biology.
Chapter: Immune Modulators in HIV-1 Disease
Lee, B., Montaner, L.JEditors: N. Saksena.Medical Systems S.P.A, Genova, Italy
Cellular Aspects of HIV Infection.
Chapter: Quantification of HIV/SIV coreceptor expression
Lee, B. and Doms, R.WEditors: Andrea Cossarizza & David R. Kaplan, John Wiley and Sons.New York
Microbiology and Immunology.
Chapter: Henipavirus: Ecology, Molecular Virology, and Pathogenesis
Lee, BEditors: Benhur Lee and Paul Rota.

Lectures

Emerging paramyxoviruses: diversity and danger?
Yale University Microbiology Seminar Series - 2/16/2017
CRISPR-Cas9 Mediated Efficient and Complete Knock-In of Destabilization Domain-Tags Allows for Reversible and Regulated Knock-Out of Protein Function
Protein Expression System Engineering, PEGS, Boston, MA - 4/28/2016
Out of Africa: Emerging Paramyxovurses
Princeton University, Infectious Disease Dynamics Group Research Seminar, Princeton, NJ - 4/13/2016
Whole genome transposon mutagenesis of Measles, Mumps and Sendai virus suggests constraints on antigenic variation of the glycoproteins
Keynote Speaker, 4th Measles-Rubella Mini Symposium, Decatur, Georgia - 10/6/2015
Synthetic Virology: a renaissance for structure-function studies
Oxford University, Division of Structural Biology Seminar - 6/22/2015
Conservation of ubiquitin-regulated nuclear-cytoplasmic trafficking among Paramyxovirinae matrix proteins
Philipps Universität, Marburg - 9/25/2014
Isogenic comparisons of chimeric recombinant henaipviruses reveal functional differences between Nipah and Hendra virus matrix and envelope glycoprot
Early Events in Virus Infection, Monte Verita, Ascona, Switzerland - 8/27/2014
Out of Africa: a tale of two viruses
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington - 3/25/2014
Forging New Paradigms: Broad Spectrum Antivirals against Enveloped Viruses
Plenary speaker, Society for General Microbiology Spring Conference, United Kingdom, Manchester - 3/26/2013
The Matrix Revisited: Novel Non-Structural Functions of the Henipavirus Matrix Protein
University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas - 12/18/2012
New Paradigms for Broad spectrum antiviral strategies.
Keynote, Singapore International Conference on Dengue and Emerging Infections, Singapore - 11/21/2012
A Mechanistic Paradigm for Broad-Spectrum Antivirals that Target Virus-Cell Fusion.
Joint session of ACH2 and 9th Asian-Pacific Congress of Medical Virology, Adelaide, Australia - 6/6/2012
Beyond Coreceptor Usage: How the Efficiency of CD4/CCR5 usage impacts the biological and pathogenic phenotype of HIV.
Keynote, Australian Centres for HIV and Hepatitis Research (ACH2) Adelaide, Australia - 6/4/2012
Mechanistic Basis for Broad Spectrum Antivirals that Target Virus-Cell Fusion.
Keystone Symposium on Cell Biology of Virus Entry, Replication and Pathogenesis, Whistler, British - 3/28/2012
Intracellular sojourn of the Nipah virus matrix protein: functional and pathogenic correlates.
Cellular Microbiology, FASEB Summer Research Conference - 7/26/2011
Broad spectrum antiviral approaches
Viruses and Cells Gordon Research Conference, Il Ciocco, Barga, Italy - 5/30/2011
Virus Entry & Budding: Insights from Nipah virus, the Deadliest Virus You’ve Never Heard Of.
Centers of Disease Control & Emory University, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics Seminar - 4/4/2011
Virus Entry & Budding: Insights from Nipah virus, the Deadliest Virus You’ve Never Heard Of.
Vanderbilt University, Microbiology and Immunology Seminar Series - 1/25/2011
Novel inhibitors against enveloped virus entry: a new mechanistic paradigm.
11th Annual Symposium on Antiviral Drug Resistance: Targets and Mechanisms, Hershey, PA - 11/8/2010
A new mechanistic paradigm for a class of broad spectrum antivirals active against enveloped viruses.
Plenary Talk, 6th National Regional Centers of Excellence for Biodefense meeting, Las Vegas, NV - 4/12/2010
Knowing When You’re Ready to Publish.
American Society of Virology 28th Annual Meeting, Vancouver, Canada - 7/14/2009
Henipavirus Entry and Budding.
Pacific-Southwest Regional Center of Excellence (PSWRCE) for Biodefense - 4/25/2009
The IL-10/IL-12 axis and the regulation of DC-SIGN expression in Human Gut Mucosa.
2003 International HIV Symposium, Palm Springs, CA
Cell fusion and syncytia formation is mediated by oligosaccharide determinants of Nipah virus envelope F and G glycoproteins and can be blocked by lectins.
Glycobiology 2003, San Diego
A Sweet-tooth for pathogens: Lectins of the innate immune system and viral pathogenesis.
University of Pennsylvania Microbiology Research Seminar Series
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Other

BBC World News
Julian Siddle, Discovery series on Broad Spectrum Antivirals
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00m1c6l

Press Mentions

Trivalent NDV-HXP-S Vaccine Protects Against Phylogenetically Distant SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern in MiceJune 6th, 2022
What Is It About the Delta Variant That Makes It Spread so Easily?July 30th, 2021
No, There Is No Evidence the COVID-19 Vaccine Spike Protein Is ‘Cytotoxic’June 24th, 2021
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Grant Support

Development of broadly neutralizing human monoclonal antibodies against henipavirusesICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI2025–2030
Understanding the Tropism and Pathogenesis of PararubulavirusesICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI2024–2029