Director

Tatia M.C. Lee, Ph.D., R. Psych.

Professor Tatia Lee, Ph.D., is Chair Professor of Psychological Science & Clinical Psychology and May Professor in Neuropsychology, at the University of Hong Kong. In addition, she is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (Divisions 12 & 40), and of the American Psychological Society, respectively. Professor Lee is also a registered clinical psychologist and a board certified neuropsychologist.

Professor Lee’s research is at the frontier of neuropsychology and social cognitive affective neuroscience.

Research Assistant Professors

Nichol Wong, Ph.D.

Nichol is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Hong Kong. He obtained a BSc in Psychology from the University of York, a MSc in Applied Paediatric Neuropsychology from University College London, and he received his Ph.D. from the University of Hong Kong. Prior to his current appointment, he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at King’s College London.

Broadly, Nichol is interested in the field of affective neuroscience. He aims to understand how different individuals process emotions and the neuropsychological mechanisms underlying such emotional processing. Using MRI techniques, he explores the neural underpinnings of emotion- and face-processing in individuals with and without affective psychopathology. In particular, he considers loneliness as one of the critical factors that hinder one’s emotional processing.

Postdoctoral Fellows

Menglu Chen, Ph.D

Menglu is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Lab. She received her B.S. in Applied Psychology at the Southwest University, and obtained her Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience from the State key laboratory of cognitive neuroscience and learning and the IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research at the Beijing Normal University in 2022. She is now interested in brain flexibility and resilience, particularly the functional plasticity of the default mode network (DMN) in aging and clinical populations.

Mengxia Gao, Ph.D

Mengxia is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Lab. She received her B.S. in Applied Psychology and M.E. in Developmental and Educational Psychology at the South China Normal University, and obtained her Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Hong Kong in 2021. She is now interested in modelling behaviours using computational algorithms and multimodal brain imaging data, especially in aging and clinical populations.

Yue Gu, Ph.D.

Yue is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Lab. She received her B.Eng. in Software Engineering at Northeast Agricultural University and completed her Ph.D. in Psychology at Sun Yat-sen University. Her research interests include human brain network and organization changes, especially during the lifespan and in neurodegenerative disease.

Junji Ma, Ph.D.

Junji is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Lab. He received his B.Eng in Software Engineering and Ph.D in Psychology at the Sun Yat-sen University. His research interests include organizational principles of multimodal human brain network, roles of structural brain networks in shaping functional brain networks, and their relationship with mental health.

Suhail Theparambil Asharaf, Ph.D.

Suhail is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Lab. He received his B.Tech. in Electronics and Communication Engineering at the University of Calicut and M.E. in Applied Electronics at Anna University, and obtained his Ph.D. in Brain Signal Analysis at APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University India. His research interests include biomarker identification for attention, memory, etc., and developing neurofeedback games for cognitive enhancement and emotion regulation.

Maria Teresa Wijaya, Ph.D

Maria is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Lab. She completed her B.Sc. in Life Sciences and Ph.D. in Psychology at the National University of Singapore. Her research interests include emotion, attachment theory, and understanding the brain as a complex system.

Graduate Students

Run Jin

Run is a first-year MPhil student under the supervision of Prof. Tatia Lee. She graduated from Peking University with a BSc in Pharmaceutical Sciences and a BSc in Psychology (double major). Currently, she is curious about the interplay between inflammation, depression, and cognitive impairment.

Letian Lei (Grace)

Grace is a first-year PhD student under the co-supervision of Dr. Charlene Lam and Prof. Tatia Lee at HKU. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in psychology at Beijing Normal University and her MPhil degree in psychology at CUHK. She has a broad interest in affective neuroscience. Her research at CUHK mainly focused on affective touch. Currently, she is interested in fear conditioning and addiction.

Alex Hei Tung Leung

Alexis Leung is a first-year MPhil student under the supervision of Professor Tatia M.C. Lee. She obtained her B.A. in Psychology from the City University of New York. Her research interests include (but not limited to) ADHD, Autism, and emotional neglect.

Yi Ping Li (Pinky)

Pinky is a first-year Ph.D. candidate under the supervision of Professor Tatia M.C. Lee. She obtained her Bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of Hong Kong and her Master’s in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research interest lies in memory.

Li Liang (Lik)

Lik is a final-year MPhil Student from Guangzhou, China. He pursued his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at the Education University of Hong Kong. He has been working on research investigating the adverse impact of massive stressful events on the population’s mental health. Lik is interested in the everyday processes and mechanisms related to stress adaptation and psychological resilience. Another line of his research interests is the psychometric evaluations of assessment tools.

Mengyuan Liu (June)

June is a first-year Ph.D. student, under the supervision of Professor Tatia M.C. Lee. She completed her HBSc in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is interested in reinforcement learning, cognitive bias, and neuropsychology.

Jingyi Luo

Jingyi is a first-year MPhil student under the supervision of Professor Tatia M.C. Lee. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.S. in psychology and a minor in neuroscience. She is broadly interested in the mental representations of emotion and the interplay between social cognition and affects. She is especially interested in exploring the neural underpinnings of interoception and social stress using neural imaging techniques.

Idy Man

Idy is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Psychology at the University of Hong Kong, under the supervision of Professor Tatia M.C. Lee. She completed her BSc in Biochemistry at HKU and her MMedSc at HKU. Her research interest is in the neurobiological markers in psychological resilience.

Sammi Tam

Sammi is a second-year Ph.D. student under the supervision of Professor Tatia M.C. Lee. She obtained her B.Sc. in Psychology from University College London. Her research interests lie primarily in clinical psychology and neuropsychology. She is motivated to explore the static and dynamic functional connectivities underpinning affective disorders, as well as to work on the different approaches towards the detection and early intervention of depression in particular. Equally intrigued by the application of psychological theories, she hopes to scrutinise the field of clinical psychology and neuropsychology through both research and clinical perspectives.

Horace Tong

Horace is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the lab. He graduated from Bangor University in Wales with a BSc in Psychology, and obtained his MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience from University College London. His research in the UK mainly focused on imitation/mimicry and social liking. Currently, his research interests include brain and behavioural activities during stress and post-stress recovery, as well as how individuals recover from stress and adversity (resilience).

Yuliang Wang (Lorne)

Lorne is a first-year PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Tatia Lee and being co-supervised by Dr Winnie Tso at HKU. He received his B.Sc. in psychological science at the University of Queensland in Australia, with 1^st class honours, and completed his M.Phil. in neuroscience at HKU, Faculty of Medicine. He is interested in understanding the neurocognitive basis of neurodevelopmental disorders (such as ADHD) in children.

Shuyue Yang (Angela)

Angela is a first-year MPhil student under the supervision of Professor Tatia Lee. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Psychology at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her minors were Sociology and Business Administration in her undergradute study. She is interested in behavioral neuroscience, depression, anxiety, and stress.

Zhiwei Zheng (Esther)

Esther is a first-year Ph.D. student under the supervision of Professor Tatia M.C. Lee. She obtained her B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Irvine, and her M.S. in Neuroscience and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Before starting her Ph.D. program at HKU, she worked at Columbia University Medical Center and gained clinical research experience in aging, exceptional longevity, and dementia. She is interested in investigating cognitive impairment and affective symptoms in aging populations.

Research Staff

Na Dong (Dona)

Dona is a research assistant in the Lab. She graduated from Trinity College Dublin in Republic of Ireland with a BA. in Neuroscience, and obtained her MSc. in Advanced Neuroimaging from University College London. She is broadly interested in the aging and neuroplasticity.

Ye Shen (Helen)

Helen is a research assistant in the Lab. She graduated from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology with a B.Eng. in Computer Science. She is interested in neurocognitive, resilience, and interdisciplinary research.