Biography

I am an Experimental Psychologist by training. I earned my undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, from East China Normal University (ECNU) in Shanghai, China, where I also obtained a Master's Degree in Developmental Psychology. I hold a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, TX, U.S.A.

Finding my research interests and career goals took some time, and several important events and experiences guided my journey. While majoring in psychology, I also developed a keen interest in the French language and economics. I minored in French and completed a French immersion program sponsored by the French Consulate in Shanghai. Additionally, I took economics classes and was captivated by the predictive power of economic models. In my junior year, I interned at a municipal psychiatric hospital, shadowing psychiatrists working with individuals with various psychiatric symptoms. That same year, I participated in a research lab under the mentorship of Dr. Ciping Deng, which sparked my interest in developmental psychopathology.

After obtaining my bachelor's degree, I continued working with my research mentor in a master's program at ECNU, where I found my interest in studying psychological functioning related to substance use. Following graduation, I moved to the United States to pursue a Ph.D. at Texas Christian University (TCU), where I joined a research team at TCU's Institute of Behavioral Research. There, I studied topics related to substance use and related behaviors and discovered my passion for statistics.

Upon receiving my Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from TCU in 2014, I accepted a tenure-track assistant professor position in psychology at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. I taught both undergraduate and graduate classes while continuing my research on health-risk behaviors. During my tenure, I collaborated with community stakeholders to examine factors associated with psychosocial functioning and substance treatment processes and outcomes among justice-involved individuals. My lab also developed and pilot-tested a hope-based intervention for women in a jail setting, inspired by Jane Goodall's The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times.  

In Fall 2019, I was offered an opportunity to join TCU's Institute of Behavioral Research team and work on a NIDA-funded project focusing on justice-involved youth. I decided to leave my tenure-track position and rejoin the Institute of Behavioral Research, where I felt truly at home in my research pursuits.