Faculty & Staff
Faculty
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Title: Assistant Professor |
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Ji-Young Lee, Ph.D., MSPH, is an assistant professor in the Department of Mental Health Law & Policy at the ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ. Dr. Lee is a behavioral scientist and mixed methods researcher with over a decade of experience addressing health disparities through human-centered research focused on LGBT communities and other historically underserved populations. Her work bridges digital health innovation, intervention design, and stigma reduction to improve mental health and HIV-related outcomes. Central to her research is a commitment to unraveling the socio-behavioral contexts that drive health disparities among LGBT individuals and designing solutions that are culturally grounded, scalable, and community-informed.
Dr. Lee integrates behavioral theory, human-centered design, and implementation science to develop and evaluate interventions that enhance accessibility, relevance, and engagement. As Principal Investigator on multiple funded projects, she has led community-engaged studies to culturally tailor digital health tools, validate inclusive mental health measures, and identify structural barriers to care across diverse settings.
Across her academic and research leadership roles, Dr. Lee has built and mentored interdisciplinary research teams spanning undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in applied mixed methods, writing for research and publication, and research in community settings. She maintains collaborative partnerships with clinicians, developers, and policy partners to help translate findings into actionable, practice-based insights. Dr. Lee is passionate about bridging academic research and real-world application and is committed to driving impact-driven innovation in public health.
Education
2022 – Postdoctoral Fellowship – Center for Sexuality & Health Disparities – University
of Michigan
2021 – Postdoctoral Fellowship – Institute for Sexual & Gender Minority Health & Wellbeing
– Northwestern University
2020 – PhD – Prevention Science & Community Health – University of Miami Miller School
of Medicine
2016 – MSPH – Public Health – University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
2014 – BS – Psychology, Sociology (with honors) – University of Pittsburgh