John Dunn Lane, Jr. was born in Lincolnton, GA in 1903 to Nellie E. and John Dunn Lane, Sr. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in 1923 from Mercer University. For one year, 1922-1923, before entering medical college, he served as the principal at Brownsville High School in Brownsville, GA. In 1927 He received his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia (formally known then as the UGA Medical Department). For two years he served in an internship and residency training program in surgery at the Margaret Wright Hospital in Augusta, Georgia.

Lane began his career as a medical officer in the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) in 1929. Over the span of 31 years Lane participated in the administrative activities of the surgical service, which included the supervision and teaching of the surgical staff, at the USPHS hospitals he served. Lane oversaw the administration of USPHS hospitals that ranged from 65 beds to 425 beds. At the USPHS hospitals in Baltimore and in Staten Island he organized the surgical residency training programs in which he outlined the entire program, obtained the accreditation, and supervised the training for Board requirements in surgery.

Lane conducted extensive research while at the Baltimore and Staten Island USPHS hospitals and published nine papers, including original experimental work on the consecutive treatment of perforated peptic ulcer. He received the Medal of Honor in Research at the Southern Medical Convention in 1948.

Lane was an active member of various medical societies as well as the USPHS Clinical Society, of which he served as president two different times. A research grant was established in his honor and given each year to a member of the society for outstanding research work. In 1959, Lane was assigned as a special medical consultant to the Brewster Senate Committee on military affairs in the investigation of the Malmedy massacre of World War II.

Lane retired from the USPHS as a medical director with the rank of captain and officer grade of 06. In his retirement he served as a medical consultant to the Department of Labor and Industries in the State of Washington.

Lane died in Langley, Washington on September 15, 1995 at the age of 91. Following the death of his wife Yvette in 2002, the John D. and Yvette J. Lane Endowment was established with the MCG Foundation with a gift of over $3 million to provide scholarship support to the Medical College of Georgia.