UCI School of Medicine Recognizes Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Sunmin Lee, ScD

Sunmin Lee, ScD, is a social epidemiologist whose research has focused on reducing health disparities among Asian Americans over the last two decades. She is currently the principal investigator on three NIH-funded studies related to health disparities affecting Asian Americans. Most notably, her projects incorporate interdisciplinary teams of scholars as well as a community advisory board to ensure the direct relevance of the research to health outcomes.

This work is deeply rooted in Dr. Lee’s own lived experiences.

“Living and working in the U.S. as a first-generation Korean immigrant woman posed various challenges, including stress stemming from the language barrier and adjusting to a new culture and environment. Sometimes, these stressors took a toll on my health,” reflects Dr. Lee.

“By talking with people in Asian communities, I learned that many people are experiencing the same thing or even worse. I thought studying this might be important, and I might be a good fit for this work, given my experience and familiarity with Asian culture.”

The author of over 90 peer-reviewed papers in high-impact journals, Dr. Lee’s expertise will be shared with several national outlets during this year’s AANHPI Heritage Month, including talks sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and the National Minority Health and Health Disparities Institute of the NIH. Learn more about Dr. Lee’s work at the Sunmin Lee Lab.