Yang Jae Lee, MD

Faculty Appointment(s)

Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Global Health

leeyjae@uw.edu

Dr. Yang Jae Lee is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington, with an adjunct appointment in the Department of Global Health. He is a psychiatrist and global mental health researcher focused on reducing mental illness stigma and strengthening community-based mental health care systems in low-resource settings. Clinically, he is an inpatient teaching attending at Harborview Medical Center, where he works with residents and medical students and where his clinical practice informs his research.

Since 2015, he has worked in the Busoga region of Uganda, where he co-founded Empower Through Health, a 501(c)(3) organization that integrates healthcare delivery, research, and education in rural Uganda, serving a catchment area of approximately 70,000 people and providing mental health services across a district of more than 400,000 individuals. As Executive Director and Chairperson, he leads interdisciplinary partnerships with local communities, clinicians, and government stakeholders to design, implement, and evaluate sustainable physical health, mental health, and education programs.

His research examines stigma reduction, pathways to care following mental health crises, and the integration of traditional and biomedical mental health systems, with a focus on how community structures can be leveraged to support recovery and social reintegration in underserved populations.

In parallel with his research, he directs the Global Health Experiential Fellowship, a predoctoral training program that pairs Ugandan and American students for immersive, community-based global health research in rural Uganda. The fellowship has trained over 200 alumni and serves as a platform for capacity building, cross-cultural collaboration, and academic mentorship.

Education

Psychiatry Residency, Yale University, 2021-2025
MD, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, 2017-2021
AB, Washington University in St. Louis, 2012-2016

Other Affiliations

Empower Through Health

Recent Publications

Beliefs about the causes and treatment of common mental illnesses and suicidality in rural Uganda.
(2025 Jul 8)
BJPsych Open 11(4): e146
Lee YJ, Mbabazi R, Jevremov O, Nakaweesi S, Brodey E, Wykoff J, Sivakumar R, Kazungu R, Ssekalo I, Rosenheck R, Tsai AC
Portrayals of alcohol use disorder treatment outcomes and their effects on stigma: Population-based, randomized survey experiment in rural Uganda.
(2025 Sep 1)
Drug Alcohol Depend 274(): 112718
Lee YJ, Jurinsky J, Baguma C, Ashaba S, Kakuhikire B, Namara EB, Ahereza P, Kyokunda V, Satinsky EN, Tsai AC, Perkins JM
Perspectives of traditional healers, faith healers, and biomedical providers about mental illness treatment: qualitative study from rural Uganda.
(2025)
Glob Ment Health (Camb) 12(): e29
Lee YJ, Coleman M, Nakaziba KS, Terfloth N, Coley C, Epparla A, Corbitt N, Kazungu R, Basiimwa J, Lafferty C, Cole K, Agwang G, Kathawala E, Nkolo T, Wogali W, Richard EB, Rosenheck R, Tsai AC
Pathways to care for psychosis in rural Uganda: Mixed-methods study of individuals with psychosis, family members, and local leaders.
(2024)
Glob Ment Health (Camb) 11(): e130
Lee YJ, Nakaziba KS, Waimon S, Agwang G, Menon K, Samuel S, Dyas AD, Nkolo T, Ingabire H, Wykoff J, Hobbs O, Kazungu R, Basiimwa J, Rosenheck R, Ashaba S, Tsai AC
Differences in Mental Illness Stigma by Disorder and Gender: Population-Based Vignette Randomized Experiment in Rural Uganda.
(2024)
PLOS Ment Health 1(1):
Lee YJ, Christ R, Mbabazi R, Dabagia J, Prendergast A, Wykoff J, Dasari S, Safai D, Nakaweesi S, Aturinde SR, Galvin M, Akena D, Ashaba S, Waiswa P, Rosenheck R, Tsai AC
Show complete publication list »
Edit Profile