Tribute to Lucy Fang Lee: Ninth International Symposium on Marek's Disease and Avian Herpesviruses

Abstract

Lucy F. Lee, research chemist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory (ADOL), East Lansing, MI, was honored at the Ninth International Symposium on Marek’s Disease and Avian Herpesviruses for her many contributions to knowledge on Marek’s disease. Following a biographical review of her life and career by Dr. Richard Witter, Dr. Klaus Osterrieder presented Dr. Lee with a plaque of distinction. Lucy was born in China but immigrated as a teenager to the United States, where she attended Ohio Dominican College, the University of Maryland, and finally Michigan State University, where she earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry. She accepted a position with the USDA-ARS-Regional Poultry Research Laboratory (now ADOL) in 1968. Over the ensuing 43 years at ADOL, she built a distinguished career conducting research on avian tumor viruses. Much of her work focused on Marek’s disease virus (MDV); she began with chemical characterization, moved to immunology with a special emphasis on monoclonal antibodies, moved again to molecular biology to focus first on the identification of viral genes and later to sequence the entire genome, and finally to the development and evaluation of recombinant vaccines. She also contributed to knowledge on avian leukosis virus and reticuloendotheliosis virus. Many of her monoclonal antibodies continue to be in widespread use in research and commercial laboratories. She was the first to obtain a complete genetic sequence of MDV. She mentored a large number of Chinese students and scholars, beginning in the early 1980s, many of whom developed their own distinguished careers in science, both in China and the United States. She earned the respect of her colleagues, co-workers, and students with her high standards of professional achievement, her substantial research contributions, her strong collaborations, her skill as a mentor and teacher, and her warm and engaging personality. She retired from ADOL in May 2011 but continues her professional work as a collaborator at ADOL.