UCLA GloCal Health Fellowship Multiple Principal Investigator (MPI), Sung-Jae Lee, PhD, will serve as Co-Lead of the Health Equity and Translational Social Science (HETSS) Research Theme for the David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM) at UCLA with Alma Guerrero, MD, MPH.

The HETSS Research Theme prioritizes promotion of health equity by building collaborative partnerships across the UCLA social sciences community together with UCLA’s many community partners across Los Angeles and southern California. HETSS is developing social science pathways to ensure equity-centered patient care that addresses the social determinants of health. HETSS fosters cutting edge models which will address endemic health disparities. Reporting to the Vice Dean for Research, Drs. Lee and Guerrero will collaborate with DGSOM leadership to develop and expand research initiatives for the Health Equity and Translational Social Science community.

Dr. Lee is a Professor-in-Residence in the DGSOM Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and the Fielding School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology. He is the Faculty Director of Research and Evaluation in the Division of Population Behavioral Health at the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, and he leads the Methods Core of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded Center for HIV Identification Prevention and Treatment Services. He has an extensive record of community-engaged research in marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+ individuals at risk for HIV and homeless minority youth. He is a Faculty Mentor for the DGSOM Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Academic Mentoring program.

Dr. Lee is the UCLA PI for the NIH-funded UC Global Health Institute GloCal Health Fellowship Program and has demonstrated a deep commitment to mentorship. He hopes to use this new appointment as Co-Lead of the HETSS Research Theme to strengthen GloCal’s partnership with Charles R. Drew University to advance the GloCal Health Fellowship Program.

We congratulate Dr. Lee on his new appointment and know he will make valuable contributions to the HETSS Research Theme.