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 World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), the Academy of Social Sciences, UK (FAcSS), the American Psychological Association (FAPA; Society of Clinical Psychology and Society of Clinical Neuropsychology), the Association for Psychological Science (FAPS; Clinical Psychology), and the American College of Professional Neuropsychology (FACPN) 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.
Assistant Professor (Research)

Zhengxi Shao (Robin), Ph.D.
Robin is an Assistant Professor (Research) in the lab. He received his B.A. (Experimental Psychology) and Ph.D. (Psychiatry) from the University of Oxford. Before joining HKU, he worked as a Nanshan Scholar Appointed Professor in the Guangzhou Medical University. Robin’s research interests include 1) affective and cognitive neuroscience on healthy individuals, 2) clinical neuroscience on individuals with mood disorders and “high-risk” populations, 3) the neural, biological and behavioural mechanisms of stress and resilience, 4) brain plasticity induced via neuromodulation.
Research Assistant Professor

Kar Fye Lee (Alvin), Ph.D.
Alvin is a Research Assistant Professor in the lab. He received his B.Sc. in Psychology (First Class Honours) and Ph.D. from the School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia. He was previously working as a Research Fellow in the Decision, Environmental, and Organizational Neuroscience Lab at Nanyang Technological University. His research interests revolve around biological markers of psychological states and potential translational applications.
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.

Zhongpeng Dai (David), Ph.D.
David is a Postdoctroral Fellow in the Lab. He received his B.Eng. in Compuer Science at Jiangnan University and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering in Southeast University. His research interests include the applications of large-scale brain dynamic models and frequency-specific analyses in computatial psychiatry. He is also interested in using the public datasets to explore neuropsychological basis underying different mental health problems.

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 (Yolanda), Ph.D.

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.

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

Ke Fang (Kay)
Kay is a M.Phil. student under the supervision of Professor Tatia Lee. She obtained her B.Sc. in Psychology from Zhejiang University. Currently she is interested in cognitive and affective neuroscience in aging population.

Run Jin (Rachel)
Run is a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Professor Tatia Lee. She graduated from Peking University with a B.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Sciences and a B.Sc. in Psychology (double major). Currently, she is curious about the interplay between inflammation, depression, and cognitive impairment.

Alexis Hei Tung Leung
Alex is a M.Phil. student under the supervision of Professor Tatia 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 neglec

Yi Ping Li (Pinky)
Pinky is a M.Phil. candidate under the supervision of Professor Tatia Lee. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Hong Kong and her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research interest lies in memory.

Li Liang (Lik)
Lik is a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Professor Tatia Lee. He pursued his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at the Education University of Hong Kong and M.Phil. at the 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 biopsychosocial interplays 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 Ph.D. student, under the supervision of Professor Tatia Lee. She completed her B.Sc. in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is interested in reinforcement learning, cognitive bias, and neuropsychology.

Richard Liu
Richard is a Ph.D. student under the co-supervision of Professor Tatia Lee and Professor Jenny Yiend in the HKU and King’s College London Joint PhD Programme. He obtained his B.Sc. in Neuroscience from University College London and his M.Sc. in Neuroscience from King’s College London. His research direction focuses on applying neuroimaging modalities to unravel the mechanisms of neurofunctional disorders such as depression, and the application of neurostimulation in clinical settings.

Jingyi Luo
Jingyi is a M.Phil. student under the supervision of Professor Tatia 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.

Ye Shen (Helen)
Helen is a M.Phil. 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.

Xiaoqi Song (Vicky)
Vicky is a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Professor Tatia Lee. She obtained her B.S. in psychology from Qingdao University, and her M.E. in psychology from Southern Medical University. She is interested in positive emotion and its related brain mechanism in individuals with subthreshold depression.

Sammi Tam
Sammi is a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Professor Tatia 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.

Jade Jia-Qi Tin
Jade is a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Professor Tatia Lee. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Health and Human Sciences (Minor in Occupational Science), and Master’s degree in Narrative Medicine from the University of Southern California. She is interested in studying loneliness, cognition, and the aging population.

Horace Tong
Horace is a Ph.D. student in the lab. He graduated from Bangor University in Wales with a B.Sc. in Psychology, and obtained his M.Sc. 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 Ph.D. student under the supervision of Professor Tatia Lee and being co-supervised by Professor Winnie Tso at HKU. He received his B.Sc. in psychological science at the University of Queensland in Australia, with 1st 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 M.Phil. 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 Ph.D. student under the supervision of Professor Tatia 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.