Yang Jae Lee, MD, fourth-year resident in the Yale Department of Psychiatry, has been selected to be a 2025 Laughlin Fellow of The American College of Psychiatrists (ACP).
The fellowship, awarded to 12 trainees annually, recognizes psychiatry residents and fellows who demonstrate exceptional potential to advance the field of psychiatry. The fellowship provides recipients the opportunity to attend two ACP annual meetings, facilitating networking and knowledge exchange with leaders in the field.
Laughlin Fellows are chosen from an elite pool of applicants based on their outstanding leadership qualities, clinical excellence, dedication to teaching, community service, and research and scholarly work. They participate in all educational and social functions during the annual meeting.
ACP comprises more than 750 psychiatrists who have demonstrated excellence in the field of psychiatry and achieved national recognition in clinical practice, research, academic leadership, or teaching. The organization is committed to advancing psychiatric knowledge and maintaining the highest standards in the profession. Its members select Laughlin Fellows as potential future leaders in the field.
Lee established Empower Through Health in 2018 during his first year of medical school at Washington University in St. Louis, where he was the first MD candidate to receive the McDonnell Scholarship providing full merit scholarship and living stipend. Since its founding, Empower Through Health has provided direct healthcare to over 40,000 patients, conducted public health education programs for 70,000 people, hosted hundreds of Ugandan and American predoctoral students with fellowship programs, and developed a productive global health research infrastructure.
Lee has concentrated his global health research at Yale on two primary areas: diminishing the stigma associated with mental illness and cultivating robust systems of care through working with existing community structures to provide effective mental healthcare in rural areas of low-income countries. He has 7 first-author publications, 3 more first-author publications under review, and 11 works in progress in which he will be either first or senior author. He is submitting a K23 application with the National Institute of Mental Health this year.
Lee is the co-chief resident of Neuroscience Research Training Program (NRTP) at Yale. Lee is the recipient of the 2024 American Society for Clinical Investigation’s Emerging-Generation Award, 2024 American Psychiatric Association’s Diversity Leadership Fellowship, 2023 Thoms P. Detre Award, and has been recognized in both 2023 and 2024 with the Lustman Award.
Lee's selection as a Laughlin Fellow is a testament to his potential to make transformative contributions to psychiatry, particularly in the realm of global mental health. His combination of clinical expertise, research acumen, and on-the-ground experience in low and middle-income countries positions him as a rising leader in addressing some of the most pressing challenges in global mental health care.