W. Lee Kraus

W. Lee Kraus, Ph.D. is Professor and Director of the Green Center for Reproductive Biology Sciences at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He holds the Cecil H. and Ida Green Distinguished Chair in Reproductive Biology Sciences and serves as Vice Chair for Basic Sciences in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Assistant Director for Basic Research at the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the inaugural Assistant Dean for Research Development. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Endocrine Society (2023-2026).

Dr. Kraus earned his Bachelor of Science from Cornell University in 1989, completed his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1994 under Benita S. Katzenellenbogen, and conducted postdoctoral research at UC San Diego with Jim Kadonaga, supported by NIH and American Cancer Society fellowships.

His laboratory investigates signal regulated transcription, chromatin and gene regulation, nuclear receptors, PARPs, and NAD+ metabolism and signaling. The Kraus Lab has pioneered research on ADP-ribosylation mechanisms, revealing how PARP enzymes regulate transcriptional programs in reproduction, development, and cancer. His work has established critical connections between NAD+ metabolism, chromatin modification, and gene expression, with particular focus on hormonal regulation in breast cancer and reproductive tissues.

Dr. Kraus has published over 150 original research articles with an h-index of 77 (Google Scholar 2022). His recent work demonstrates increasing sophistication in connecting PARP enzymatic activity with specific transcriptional outcomes across multiple disease contexts, particularly in cancer biology and metabolic regulation.

His scientific contributions have been recognized with prestigious awards:

• Endocrine Society's Richard E. Weitzman Memorial Award (2007)
• Endocrine Society's Ernst Oppenheimer Award (2014)
• Cornell University Teaching Excellence Award (2004)
• Cornell University Research Mentoring Award (2008)
• Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award

As a mentor, Dr. Kraus has trained 22 doctoral students, 26 postdocs, and 16 clinical fellows (as of 2022), with most former trainees securing faculty positions or research roles in academia and industry. His research has been continuously supported by major grants from NIH, American Cancer Society, Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, Endocrine Society, and NSF.

The Green Center for Reproductive Biology Sciences under Dr. Kraus's leadership maintains a vibrant research environment focused on basic mechanisms of reproduction, development, and cancer. Beyond academia, he co-founded Ribon Therapeutics and ARase Therapeutics, translating basic discoveries about PARP biology into therapeutic applications, and serves on multiple biotech advisory boards.