Principal Investigator

Christina S. Lee, PhD
Principal Investigator and Director of the HEAL Lab

Christina S. Lee, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist, health services provider, and an associate professor in the School of Social Work at Boston University (BUSSW). She received her Ph.D. from New York University and completed pre and post-doctoral NIH sponsored fellowships at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University.

Dr. Lee’s research examines the impact of social determinants and stressors on substance use behaviors among stigmatized populations in her programmatic NIH-funded addiction treatment research delivered to diverse communities. Her work includes the scientific investigation of methods to culturally adapt addiction treatments, how structural determinants, including stigma, immigration, and racism, influence substance use behavior, and mechanisms of change in motivational interviewing. Dr. Lee utilizes mixed-methods, translational research, and community-engaged methods in her research.  

She is PI and co-PI on NIH-funded addiction treatment research: currently training community health workers on Culturally Adapted Motivational Interviewing in BMC Primary Care for Latino/a and Black patients, and working with researchers in New Mexico to develop a bilingual (Spanish) app to increase access to SUD treatment.

Dr. Lee mentors undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral scholars from diverse racial-ethnic groups. Dr. Lee wrote an invited book, Motivational Interviewing Across Cultures: Optimizing Practice, that is part of the Applications of Motivational Interviewing Series edited by William R. Miller.

or her expertise in the areas of addiction treatment research and health equity, Dr. Lee has been invited to serve on the editorial boards of: the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs (Senior Editor), Alcohol Research: Current Reports, and the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. She is a member the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers. She is an elected fellow of the American Psychological Association and has a blog on Psychology Today titled “Connecting Across Divides”.

Dr. Lee enjoys her volunteer work in suboxone clinics and residential treatment centers and helped to establish an integrated behavioral health program in the South End, Boston.

Curriculum vitae

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Representative Publications 

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BU School of Social Work Profile

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