Dr. Holly Lee is a physician-scientist leading an independent translational research lab at the Arthur Child Cancer Center focused on multiple myeloma and cancer immunotherapy. She earned her MD at the University of Toronto, completed internal medicine and hematology residency at the University of Calgary, and a PhD in Dr. Nizar Bahlis Lab at University of Calgary. Her lab investigates mechanisms of therapy resistance and tumor-immune interactions.
Lee, Holly
Hematologic Oncology
Assistant Professor
Biography
Area of Focus
Multiple myeloma, immunotherapy, translational research
Summary of Research
Dr. Holly Lee is a clinician scientist focused on multiple myeloma and immune-oncology. Her work integrates multi-omic approaches, functional genomics, and translational immunology to understand mechanisms of therapy resistance, antigen escape, and tumor-immune interactions. Key contributions include dissecting T cell-based immunotherapy resistance in myeloma, characterizing genomic drivers of clonal evolution, and developing models to study immune dynamics in the bone marrow microenvironment.
In addition to research, Dr. Lee is engaged in teaching and mentoring, guiding students in experimental design, bioinformatics, and hypothesis-driven investigation. Her approach emphasizes the integration of systems biology with clinical insight, fostering the next generation of scientists equipped to tackle questions in cancer immunotherapy.
Selected key publications:
1) Mechanisms of antigen escape from BCMA- or GPRC5D-targeted immunotherapies in multiple myeloma (Lee et al. Nature Medicine 2023)
2) Impact of soluble BCMA and non–T-cell factors on refractoriness to BCMA-targeting T-cell engagers in multiple myeloma (Lee et al. Blood 2024)
3) Multimodal antigenic escape to GPRC5D-targeted T cell engagers in multiple myeloma (Lee et al. Nature Medicine 2025)
Area Of Focus
Multiple myeloma, immunotherapy, translational research
Summary Of Research
Dr. Holly Lee is a clinician scientist focused on multiple myeloma and immune-oncology. Her work integrates multi-omic approaches, functional genomics, and translational immunology to understand mechanisms of therapy resistance, antigen escape, and tumor-immune interactions. Key contributions include dissecting T cell-based immunotherapy resistance in myeloma, characterizing genomic drivers of clonal evolution, and developing models to study immune dynamics in the bone marrow microenvironment.
In addition to research, Dr. Lee is engaged in teaching and mentoring, guiding students in experimental design, bioinformatics, and hypothesis-driven investigation. Her approach emphasizes the integration of systems biology with clinical insight, fostering the next generation of scientists equipped to tackle questions in cancer immunotherapy.
Selected key publications:
1) Mechanisms of antigen escape from BCMA- or GPRC5D-targeted immunotherapies in multiple myeloma (Lee et al. Nature Medicine 2023)
2) Impact of soluble BCMA and non–T-cell factors on refractoriness to BCMA-targeting T-cell engagers in multiple myeloma (Lee et al. Blood 2024)
3) Multimodal antigenic escape to GPRC5D-targeted T cell engagers in multiple myeloma (Lee et al. Nature Medicine 2025)