Alumni Feature: Dr. Joshua B. Slee ’03 fostering Faith and Science at DeSales University

“Be who you are and be that well.” Dr. Joshua B. Slee ‘03 shared the motto of DeSales University with the students being honored at the annual Academic Banquet hosted by the PTO on Monday evening, April 29. Dr. Slee serves as the Division Head of the Division of Sciences and Mathematics and as the Department Chair of the Department of Biology at DeSales, one of Delone Catholic’s nearly 30 college partners.

Dr. Slee returned to his alma mater to share the wisdom accumulated throughout his career in academia with the students in the top 10 percent of their respective classes and their families, who gathered to celebrate academic achievement, along with faculty and local pastors. Dr. Slee encouraged students to explore the possibilities presented to them and to “Let your passion guide your path.”

“Grit,” he told them, “is the most significant indicator of success.”

And Dr. Slee cautioned students to foster all aspects of their life - not letting other things to interfere with nurturing their spiritual life.

Dr. Joshua Slee is a 2003 graduate of Delone Catholic High School where he was a member of the basketball team and active in campus ministry. He received his BS in biotechnology with a minor in chemistry and his MS in biotechnology from Marywood University in Scranton, Pa. For his master’ s research, he studied exercise-induced asthma and the effect of air pollution on lung function. He then earned his Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology from Lehigh University, where he helped discover a receptor for heparin and investigated the anti-inflammatory roles of heparin and shear stress in cardiovascular disease. Dr. Slee completed a postdoctoral fellowship at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (The University of Pennsylvania) where he explored the use of CD47, a marker “self” recognition to the immune system, to promote the biocompatibility of medical devices. Having been involved in the study of inflammation across different body systems, his primary area of interest is inflammation and the body’s cellular responses to it. His lab utilizes cell and molecular biology techniques to understand how vascular cells transmit and respond to inflammatory and anti-inflammatory signals from their environment. His work has been presented at national meetings and published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals.

At DeSales University, he serves as Division Head of the Division of Sciences and Mathematics and as the Department Chair of the Department of Biology. He routinely teaches Introduction to Cell Culture, Cell Biology, Immunology, and Designer Genes. Dr. Slee resides in the Lehigh Valley with his wife and son. When he is not teaching and conducting research, he enjoys kayaking, traveling, cooking, and family trips to Dorney Park. He is an active member of Notre Dame of Bethlehem Parish, a member of the Knights of Columbus Trinity Council 313, and Assembly 931. Dr. Slee is a member of the American Society of Cell Biology, the American Society for Cellular and Molecular Biology, and the Lehigh Valley Molecular and Cell Biology Society, which he co-founded.