Email: JonLee12@stanford.edu
2018- Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Depression Clinic
Founder and Head Instructor/Facilitator: "Am I Good? Examining Life Through the Lenses of Philosophical Skepticism, Moral Philosophy, & Existentialism" psychoeducation course
2018-2021 Clinical Instructor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Depression Clinic
2011-2013 Co-Founder & Chief of Medical Product, AgileMD (www.AgileMD.com)
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, 2018-
2024 Ph.D. Health Policy - Health Economics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Health Policy
Dissertation: Trust in Public Health Institutions in the Context of Rising Political Polarization
References
Maria Polyakova (primary advisor/chair of committee)
Associate Professor – Department of Health Policy, Stanford School of Medicine
Grant Miller
Professor – Department of Health Policy, Stanford School of Medicine
Paul Sniderman
Professor – Department of Political Science, Stanford University
Sara Singer
Professor - Departments of Health Policy and Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine
2024 Ph.D. Minor Economics, Stanford University, Department of Economics
2024 M.A. Political Science, Stanford University, Department of Political Science
2018 Adult Psychiatry Residency Program Stanford University School of Medicine
2014 M.D. University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine
2014 M.B.A. University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
Concentrations: Economics, Entrepreneurship
2007 B.A. Pomona College
Major: Molecular Biology
Interests: polarization of attitudes and beliefs; institutional trust; traditional and social media effects; politicization of science, health, and news; misinformation; political polarization; partisan news media; persuasion and communication; skepticism; morality; metaethics.
I study the causes and consequences of, as well as potential solutions to, polarization as it relates to health, science, politics, and news.
My clinical interest is in using methods and insights from philosophical skepticism, moral philosophy, metaphysics/ontology, metaethics, and existentialism as psychotherapeutic interventions.
“Promoting a healthy dose of skepticism in partisan news media: The effects of a one-sided vs. both-sided partisan media critique intervention”.
“Trust Wars: Using machine learning-based topic modeling to categorize common types of rhetoric on Twitter related to trust in the CDC”.
“Using philosophical skepticism, epistemology, and moral philosophy to improve the effectiveness of cognitive restructuring interventions”.
Lee JY. “Reply to Loh: Evaluating anger as a mediator of criticism’s effect on social media engagement using the interventional effects approach.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 122(51). doi:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2529782122. Dec. 2025.
Lee JY. “The Effects of Social Media Criticism against Public Health Institutions on Trust, Emotions, and Social Media Engagement.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2025;122 (26): e2422890122. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2422890122. Jun. 2025.
Lee JY, Sher Y, Roberts, L. "Ethical and Legal Issues" (textbook chapter). Fundamentals of Consultation Liaison Psychiatry (textbook). Aug. 2019.
Mason PD, Tan M, Lee JY, Wolstencroft P, Sanborn K, Ballon JS. “Verbigeration: an overlooked symptom of a “forgotten syndrome”?” Bipolar Disorders. Oct. 2017.
Garg T, Lee JY, Evans CK, Shieh L. “Development of a best practice discharge checklist for hospital patients using the electronic medical record.” Jt Comm J Qual Patient Safety. Oct. 2014.
Lee JY, Cifu AS. “Beyond Angry Birds – Handheld Apps in Medical Education.” Academic Internal Medicine Insight. Volume 11: Issue 2. Aug. 2013.
Lee JY. “Seven Hundred Days of Startup: A day in the life of a medical student in Silicon Valley.” Academic Psychiatry. Aug. 2013.
Jan 9, 2023 – Jun 16, 2023: Stanford Laboratory for the Study of American Values - $5000
May 1, 2022 – November 1, 2023: Stanford Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department Innovator Grant recipient - $10,000
Sept 2018 – June 2023: Advanced Residency Training at Stanford (ARTS) Program Fellowship recipient (PhD full-tuition, stipends, health benefits for PhD studies)
Nov 2021 – May 2022: Vaccine Confidence Fund (Global Impact - Alliance for Advancing Health Online) Grant recipient - $70,721
July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022: Early career grantee of Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences Spectrum PHS Pilot Grant recipient - $15,145
Feb 2020 – Sept 2020: Survey Experiments in the Social Sciences (Stanford Center for American Democracy, IRiSS) grant recipient - $2000
2012 Accepted into RockHealth startup incubator program (http://rockhealth.com)
2011 Accepted into YCombinator startup incubator program(http://ycombinator.com)
2011 First Place Prize in the Chicago Booth New Venture Startup Challenge (1 out of 100+ competing startups) + Investment recipient
2011 First Place Prize in the Chicago Biotech Consortium Startup competition
2010 First Place Prize in the Chicago Startup Weekend startup competition
2010 Second Place Prize in the LeanStartupMachine Startup competition
2008 Sigma Xi Research Award for research with the highest potential for immediate impact on society
2008 Semi-Finalist in the Chicago Booth New Venture Startup Challenge
2007 Merit-Based four-year full-tuition scholarship, Pritzker School of Medicine
2007 Cum Laude Graduation Honors
2007 Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society
2007 Sigma Xi Research Honor Society
2007 Mortar Board Honor Society for outstanding leadership and dedication to community service
2007 The "Bertha Clendenen McCord Memorial Prize" for outstanding career in solo musical performance
2007 National Society of Collegiate Scholars national leadership award nomination by peers
Lee JY, Ballon JS, Hsin Honor, Mason D, Noordsy D. (May 2016). “Plastic Soul – Catatonia, Posturing and Psychic Disorganization in Schizophrenia.” Psychiatry Grand Rounds. Stanford Hospital and Clinics. Palo Alto, CA.
Lee JY, Shieh L, Hooper K. (June 2013). “Checklists: Can we Standardize and Provide Better Care?” Stanford Hospital and Clinics, Internal Medicine Noon Conference. Palo Alto, CA.
Lee JY, Cifu AS. (March 2012). “Beyond Angry Birds - Handheld Apps in Medical Education. Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) / Clerkship Directors of Internal Medicine (CDIM) National Conference. Phoenix, AZ.
Lee JY. (Oct 2011). “The Entrepreneurially-Minded Physician.” APAMSA 2011 National Conference, Stanford University School of Medicine. Palo Alto, CA.
Lee JY, Abbo E. (Jan 2009). “Cost-Shifting at an Academic Medical Center.” University of Chicago Medicine, Arts, and the Social Sciences (MAS) meeting. Chicago, IL.
Lee JY, Abbo E. (Aug 2008). “Assessing Cost-Shifting at a Midwest Academic Medical Center.” University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine Summer Research Forum. Chicago, IL.
Lee JY. “Trust Wars: Identifying Common Types of Rhetoric on Twitter related to Trust in the CDC.” Advancing Health Equity Symposium. Stanford Health Policy. Oct. 2022. Stanford, CA.
Steven S, Zalpuri I, Baker M, Lee JY, Adelsheim S, et. al. “Understanding the Mental Health Needs and Concerns of Youth and Their Parents: An Exploratory Investigation” Stanford School of Medicine Annual Community Health Symposium. Jan. 2016. Stanford, CA.
Steven S, Zalpuri I, Baker M, Lee JY, Adelsheim S, et. al. “Understanding the Mental Health Needs and Concerns of Youth and Their Parents: An Exploratory Investigation” Spectrum Innovation Research Symposium. Jan. 2016. Stanford, CA.
Garg T, Lee J, Chen J, Hooper K, Shieh L. “Development of best practice checklist for hospital patients using EMR” 2014 Society of Hospital Medicine Annual Meeting. March, 2014. Las Vegas, NV.
Garg T, Lee J, Chen J, Hooper K, Shieh L. “Development of best practice checklist for hospital patients using EMR” 2014 Society of Hospital Medicine Annual Meeting. March, 2014. Las Vegas, NV.
Garg T, Lee J, Chen J, Hooper K, Shieh L. “Development of best practice checklist for hospital patients using EMR” – 2013 Society of Hospital Medicine Northern California Chapter Scientific Meeting. November, 2013. San Jose, CA.
Lee JY, Cheney C. (April 2006). “Finding GDP Dissociation Inhibitor (GDI) Interactors in Yeast. Poster presented at the 47th Annual Drosophila Conference. Houston, TX.
Journal of Health Economics