Dr Ji Hei Lee is a lecturer in Real Estate – Planning and Development at Henley Business School, University of Reading Malaysia. Prior to joining Reading, she taught urban planning at Texas A&M University. Her research areas lie at the intersection of urban planning, social work and public health. She is interested in intervention strategies to promote wellbeing and community livability across all ages and people with different mobility.

She investigated how neighbourhood walkability, third places and life-space mobility influence older adults' wellbeing outcomes such as social support network, life satisfaction, loneliness, and depressive symptoms in various contexts. She currently co-supervises a PhD research project examining active travel in the context of MENA region.

She identified specific housing factors leading to depression and suicidal behaviour for each age group and gender and found the underlying mechanism of housing-mental health nexus. Her current research examines the interrelationship in the context of climate change and disaster.

Her ongoing research examines an innovative regeneration governance model to address issues of abandoned or underused buildings.