Associate Professor of Quantitative Psychology

PI, Bayesian and Longitudinal Data Science lab (BAL LAB)

Statistical Editor, Psychosomatic Medicine

LIFE faculty, LIFE program, International Max Planck Research School on the Life Course

I am an associate professor of quantitative psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Virginia. As a quantitative psychologist, I focus on understanding the needs of psychologists to develop new statistical methods and apply appropriate methods to address important and novel substantive questions in psychology. My research interests include Bayesian methods and statistical computing, robust and interpretable longitudinal modeling, and missing data analysis. The methods I developed have been used to analyze empirical data with complex structures in social, behavioral, and medical sciences.

At UVA, I have taught a large introductory undergraduate course, undergraduate seminars, a graduate level service course, and graduate seminars. I have also mentored undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral research associates. Although each of these is a distinct task with somewhat distinct demands, my teaching philosophy and pedagogical aim are the same: to promote students’ active learning. I will start my three-years term as a College Fellow in Fall 2023 and teach an Engagement Course for first year undergraduate students. I have been constantly gaining experiences and improving my teaching skills. I look forward to continuing to engage and inspire students in the years to come.

I received my B.S. and M.S. in Applied Mathematics at Renmin University of China. I love math! Most importantly, I love how challenging math problems make me calm down, dig deep, and try to solve them. I intend to apply math skills to solve real problems! Thanks to Dr. Ke-Hai Yuan, who pointed me to the quantitative psychology field. I received my Ph.D. in Quantitative Psychology at the University of Notre Dame where I primarily worked with Dr. Johnny Zhang. Johnny received his Ph.D. at UVA. As his first PhD student, it is an honor that I started my first job as an Assistant Professor at UVA when I graduated from Notre Dame in 2014.

I am a mother of three young children. The work-life balance is an important component of my everyday task. Thanks to my dear families, so far, I have managed this well. By virtue of being a woman in STEM in academia, I hope to inspire young women to stay the course of study and research despite the unique challenges faced by women in science.