CEO/Founder of United Natives
Dr. Crystal Lee | Diné (Navajo)
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 former 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.
Dr. Lee serves as Vice Chair for the Clark County, NV, Democratic Party Native Caucus and as an Advisor for the Nevada Office of Minority Health and Equity. She is also a member of the United Nations (UN) North American Indigenous Caucus, the UN Indigenous Women’s Caucus, and the UN Gender Equality Task Force. In addition, she has served as a Tribal Health Advisor and has collaborated on policy with tribal, state, and other diplomatic leaders to advance health and well-being for Indigenous communities. Dr. Lee is on the Board of Directors for Diversity and Inclusion at L’Oréal USA and has partnered with the NFL Alumni Association Las Vegas Chapter. She was also recognized in the 12th class of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development's 40-under-40 award.
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/
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 and adapted HIV prevention intervention for Native American adolescents. AIDS Education and Prevention, 30(1), 72-84.
