Jung-Ah Lee, Ph.D., R.N., FGSA, FAAN

Dr. Jung-Ah Lee is a nurse scientist and faculty member with expertise in gerontology and health services research. Her research primarily focuses on translational approaches to improve care delivery and quality of life for patients and caregivers. A recurring theme in her work is exploring health disparities in quality of care. Culturally sensitive approaches to care delivery in chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases and Alzheimer's Disease and related dementias, are a primary consideration of her research.

As the principal investigator, Dr. Lee has conducted community-based participatory research, starting with a needs assessment of underserved older adults and dementia family caregivers. She designed dementia care education for older adults and families in partnership with local community organizations, supported by several funding mechanisms. Based on those results, Dr. Lee developed a culturally- and language-appropriate dementia caregiver home visit program and pilot-tested it with underserved family caregivers of persons with dementia.

Dr. Lee is the primary principal investigator of a federally funded study entitled "A home-based, culturally and language specific intervention for dementia family caregivers: stress reduction and education with wearable technology for health" from the National Institute of Health/National Institute on Aging. Through this study, Dr. Lee and her interdisciplinary team of investigators from Medicine, Computer Science, and Nursing, with strong partnerships with community organizations, have conducted a randomized controlled trial testing a community health worker delivered home-based intervention for underserved dementia family caregivers using wearable technology for real-time monitoring of caregivers' stress and sleep.

Dr. Lee has conducted several funded research projects as the Principal Investigator to improve older adults' self-management of multiple chronic conditions by implementing age-friendly, culturally sensitive, digital health interventions. Her research has included underserved older adults to improve health and wellbeing with interdisciplinary collaborative efforts including Medicine and Engineering at UCI.

Dr. Lee received her master's degree in advanced care systems management and PhD from the University of Washington, School of Nursing, Department of Biobehavioral Nursing and Health System. In 2008, she joined the faculty in the UCI Program in Nursing Science. She has taught leadership and management, geriatric nursing, and research methodologies to UCI undergraduate and graduate nursing students. Dr. Lee has also provided community services to improve dementia care and age-friendly health care systems by partnering with community organizations and Alzheimer's serving organizations. She has served as President for the Asian American Pacific Islander Nurses Association (AAPINA), Board of Directors for the National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurse Associations (NCEMNA), as well as the World Academy of Nursing Science (WANS). Dr. Lee is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and the American Academy of Nursing (AAN). In 2024, She was inducted into Hall of Fame of Sigma International Nurse Researchers.