Leadership

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         Dr. Crystal Lee was born and raised on the Navajo Nation. Her tribal clans are Tachii’nii (Red Running into the Water), Tabaaha (Water’s Edge), Tsenjikini (Cliff Dwellers), and Kin I ichii’nii (Red House). She completed her undergraduate degree(s) at Arizona St. University;  MPH and PhD in Public Health degree(s) at University of Las Vegas-Nevada; MLS in Indigenous Peoples Law at University of Oklahoma, College of Law; Predoctoral Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health; and her Postdoctoral Fellowship at University of California-Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine.

         Currently she is faculty,  Assistant Professor, at University of New Mexico, College of Population Health. In addition, Dr. Lee is an Indigenous HIV/AIDS Research Training Fellow at University of Washington, Indigenous Wellness Research Institute. She conducts infectious disease biomedical prevention research with a focus on Native American health and examines Indigenous health policies at a tribal, state-tribal coordination, national, and international level.  She is Founder/CEO of United Natives, a non-profit organization that serves Indian Country on multiple initiatives (www.unitednatives.org),  Founder/CEO of Dr. b Collections, a Native American fashion line (www.drbcollections.com) and Owner of two men's professional basketball teams in Mexico (rosaritosun.org, tecatemagic.org).  United Natives was featured as one of USA Today's top non-profits addressing COVID-19  in Indian Country nationwide. 

        She serves as Vice Chair for the Clark County NV, Democratic Party Native Caucus, Advisor for the Nevada Office of Minority Health and Equity; and on the United Nations (UN) North American Indigenous Caucus, UN Indigenous Women’s Caucus, and UN Gender Equality Task Force. She served as a Tribal Health Advisor to the Obama Administration and was honored by President Bill Clinton for her work with Indigenous communities at the Clinton Global Initiative. Dr. Lee also serves as the Board Chair for the Las Vegas Indian Center, Board of Director of Diversity and Inclusion for L’Oreal USA, and on the Superbowl Committee for the National Football League. She was  the 12th class of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development's 40-under-40 award. 

Peer Reviewed Scientific Publications

  Brown A, Crengle S, Tewhaiti-Smith J, Westhead S, Bingham B, Brown N, Cassidy-Matthews C, 

Clark T, Finlay S, Hansen KL, Harwood M, Niia K, Iversen K, Knapp J, Kvernmo S, Lee Crystal, Watts R, Nadeau M, Pearson O, reading J, Sarre A, Selijenes A, Stoor J, Eckhoff C, Saewyc E, Sebastain M, Elliott S, Larsen C, Sise A, Azzopardi P. (2021). The health and wellbeing of Indigenous adolescents: a global collective for an equitable and sustainable future. (2022). The Lancet. 

Anastario M, Leston J, Crisp C, Lee MC, Rink E. (2021). A qualitative study of services 

accessibility for Indigenous persons who use injection drugs across three communities in the United States. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse. In Review. 

Crisp C, Leston J, Lee MC, Rink E. (2020). Interviews with American Indian and Alaska Native

people who inject drugs. American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research, 

27(1), 64-85.

Leston J, Crisp C, Lee C, Rink E, Reilley B, Mera J, Rink E. (2019). An interview project with 

Native American people: A community-based study to identify actionable steps to reduce health disparities. Public Health, (12), 1-10. 

Thompson-Robinson M, Atkins-Girourd P, Andrews J, Shegog M, Lee C. (2018). Teen 

pregnancy prevention and African American faith-based organizations: Lessons learned from the Southern Nevada Teen Pregnancy Prevention Project. Journal of Public Health Issues and Practices, 2, 127.

Lee C, Thompson-Robinson M, Dodge-Francis C. (2018). Feasibility and acceptability of an 

adapted HIV prevention intervention for Native American adolescents. AIDS Education and Prevention, 30(1), 72-84.

Affiliations

University of New Mexico, College of Population Health

https://hsc.unm.edu/directory/lee-crystal.html

University of Washington, Indigenous Wellness Research Institute

http://iwri.org/people/m-crystal-lee-phd-mph/

University of California-Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine

https://chipts.ucla.edu/people/crystal-lee-phd-mph/