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 a psychiatrist and global mental health researcher focused on reducing mental illness stigma and strengthening community-based care systems in low-resource settings. Since 2015, Dr. Lee has worked in the Busoga region of Uganda, where he co-founded Empower Through Health, a nonprofit organization that delivers healthcare to a catchment area of 70,000 people and mental health services to over 400,000. As Executive Director and Chairperson, he leads interdisciplinary collaborations with local stakeholders to advance sustainable health interventions and research. Through this work, he also directs the Global Health Experiential Fellowship, a predoctoral training program that provides Ugandan and American students with hands-on experience in community-based global health research and practice. The program has over 200 alumni to date.

His research focuses on stigma reduction, integration of traditional and biomedical mental health systems, and culturally grounded intervention design. At the University of Washington, he continues to explore how community structures can be leveraged to improve mental health outcomes in underserved populations.

Education

Neuroscience Research Training Program, 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 May 20)
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
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