Dr. Lala Forrest

Biography

Lala Forrest, MD, is a Psychiatry Resident at Yale School of Medicine and a tribal citizen of the Pit River Nation, descended from the Modoc and Wintu peoples. Born on ancestral lands and growing up in a suburban setting, she identifies as a rural-urban straddler. Lala earned her Bachelor of Science in Physiology and Neuroscience from the University of California, San Diego, and went on to obtain her medical degree from the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, focusing on medication education. During her training, she received the Excellent Performance Award in Psychiatry and was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Lala currently serves as the At-Large Director for the Association of American Indian Physicians and co-chairs their Policy Legislative Committee. She is involved with the Indigenous School of Medicine and works on initiatives to reimagine medical education through Indigenous leadership and traditional knowledge systems. Lala mentors Healers and supports the next generation of Indigenous leaders in education, advocacy, and planetary health. Her future interests include building an independent practice that integrates relational, culturally responsive, community-centered psychiatric care with Indigenous frameworks of healing. In her spare time, Lala enjoys CrossFit, running, swimming, learning her tribe's language, and spoiling her pit-boxer mix dog.

Research Interests