Women in Health Innovation Spotlight: Dr. Jian (Lily) Chen
As the Executive Director of UCA WAVES, Dr. Jian (Lily) Chen combats youth suicide by destigmatizing mental health and strengthening parent-child bonds. The United Chinese Americans Wellness, Advocacy, Voices, Education, and Support (UCA WAVES) is an organization that provides Youth Mental Health First Aid, parent support, and research, utilizing cutting-edge approaches like AI to serve Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. In addition to being a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar and 2025 Carolina Public Service Award recipient, Lily is also a documentary filmmaker.
An immigrant from Guangzhou, China, Lily is now a nursing faculty member at North Carolina Central University (HBCU) and she holds a Ph.D. from UNC Chapel Hill.
1. How did you become involved in the work of mental health for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community? What are some of the key mental health challenges you see affecting the AAPI community in the United States today?
More than a decade ago while living in Chicago, many immigrant parents came to me and shared the dire consequences of youth mental health struggles, including suicide. Suicide remains the leading cause of death among AAPI youth aged 15–24, according to the CDC. As a public health nurse and community organizer, I partnered with many dedicated parents to launch a public health campaign focused on youth suicide prevention through mental health education and support networks.
Our community faces unique challenges such as deep-rooted stigma and shame, a lack of understanding and vocabulary to describe mental health, and cultural differences between the individualistic West—where our children are born and raised—and the collectivist East—from which many of us immigrated. Additionally, immigration and generational trauma have lasting impacts on parenting styles, often leading to parent–child conflict and strained relationships that affect youth mental health. There are also significant structural challenges:
AAPI populations are the least studied group in mental health, with a severe lack of disaggregated data.
Disproportionately low funding is allocated to AAPI population—less than 0.17% of NIH research funding and under 0.2% of philanthropic funding supports AAPI causes.
The “model minority” myth places enormous pressure on youth.
There is a lack of linguistically and culturally congruent mental health resources and providers.
These cumulative factors contribute to high rates of mental health challenges in AANHPI youth, who are simultaneously the least likely to seek professional help, three times less likely than their white peers.
2. In what ways do you see working with youth as a catalyst for changing broader mental health dynamics within the community?
Young AAPI individuals and emergent adults are generally more open to discussing mental health than their parents. Our team includes many young people who are leading this public health campaign by creating messaging, participating in research—including at the high school level—leading educational seminars, finding their own agency, amplifying their voices, and using technology.
At the same time, these youth often report a lack of emotional support from their parents, though both sides want to connect. Parent-child disconnect is a major issue in our community work and my own research.
To effectively support youth suicide prevention, we must consider families—especially in AAPI communities that value collectivist culture. Parents are crucial gatekeepers and support systems. They need to provide emotionally safe spaces where children feel heard and validated. One of the key skills is empathetic listening. Many parents are motivated to attend our mental health education sessions to improve relationships with their children. That’s one powerful way youth can serve as catalysts for broader mental health change in the AANHPI community.
3. Can you share what an AI-powered emotional support tool is? How do you see tech and further innovation shaping the future of mental health support, particularly for AANHPI youth?
Our partner, the Mental Health Association of Chinese Americans (also known as NAMI Chinese), has developed “My Sunshine,” an AI-powered app available in three languages—which is truly impressive. Language access is critical for reaching immigrant communities, but it’s often lacking.
Supported by WAVES, a full-length documentary titled “Silent War: Asian American Reckonings with Mental Health”, directed by an award-winning filmmaker will be premiered Sept 27 at the 2025 AAPI Conference in NC. The film includes bilingual captions, and we are working on using AI tools to add voiceovers in additional languages.
I believe AI has immense potential to increase language access in navigating the health care system, understanding insurance, and finding appropriate therapists. For example, there is currently no Chinese-language therapist directory; one has to search Psychology Today, which is in English. AI could help fill this gap by directing people to language-specific resources and support groups. It can be a vital tool for youth and families seeking culturally and linguistically relevant support.
4. You’ve been a clinical practitioner, nurse, community organizer, and now hold a Ph.D. in Nursing. How are these diverse professional experiences preparing you to be a better community leader?
This is one of the most important questions. As a nurse educator in academia for most of my career, teaching at five universities across three states, and practicing public health nursing in schools and senior care settings, I’ve developed a broad perspective on youth mental health. It’s a public health issue that requires a public health approach.
It is essential to center our programs and research on the voices and needs of the community by empowering them. That’s how we can make a measurable impact. Measurable impact comes from both quantitative and qualitative data. Numbers matter—but stories are just as powerful and empowering.
To collect valid numbers and authentic stories, we need to build trust with the community. Being deeply rooted in my community—and being a mother of children who have faced mental health challenges at different stages—has taught me that everything we do must be centered around people. People are not statistics. But we also need the data to build scientific evidence, which is the ultimate advocacy tool for any community leader. I pursued a Ph.D. so I could gain the skills necessary to advocate more effectively for youth mental health and suicide prevention.
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