Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong
About us
Grace Letian Lei
Ph.D. student
Grace obtained her Master's degree in psychology from CUHK in 2021. She is now pursuing her PhD under the co-supervision of Dr. Charlene Lam and Prof. Tatia Lee at HKU. She has a broad interest in affective neuroscience. Her thesis focuses on unconscious emotional processing, employing fear conditioning and extinction models, as well as continuous flash suppression paradigm. She is experienced in collecting and analysing data of various modalities, including pupil size, skin conductance responses, and functional MRI.
Helen Yanyao Zhou
Ph.D. student
Yanyao (Helen) is currently second year Ph.D. student at HKU. She obtained her MSc in Psychology: Theory and Research from KU Leuven in 2022 with a magna cum laude before beginning her Ph.D study at HKU. She obtained her BA in the US, after which she worked as a venture capitalist in the biomedical sector and as an AP psychology teacher before her master’s study. She is currently investigating the role of emotion regulation among healthy and disease population.
Kirk Minrui Zhu
MPhil student
Minrui obtained his BSocSc in psychology from the University of Hong Kong in 2022. He is a year 2 MPhil student under the supervision of Prof. Charlene. Minrui is passionate about the field of clinical psychology and affective neuroscience. He would like to explore neurological mechanisms of anxiety and depression through fMRI and also desires to develop effective, preferably low-cost, psychological interventions based on findings. In addition, Minrui is an advocator of open science and aims to improve the transparency and replicability of scientific research.
Research interests: Anxiety and depression, neuroimaging (fMRI), psychological interventions, open science
Dong Na (Dona)
MPhil Student
Dona is an M.Phil. student in the Lab. She graduated from Trinity College Dublin in the Republic of Ireland with a BA. in Neuroscience and obtained her MSc. in Advanced Neuroimaging from University College London. She is broadly interested in ageing neuroplasticity and emotional problems.
Michelle Y.Y. Tse
PsyD Student
Michelle is a second-year student of Doctor of Psychology. After obtaining her Master of Social Science in Clinical Psychology in The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2011, Michelle has been working as a clinical psychologist in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, a public hospital in Hong Kong. Through clinical practice, she gains interests in neuropsychology, neuroscience and aging. She is currently pursuing her PsyD as a part-time student, with research interests in neuroscience and Alzheimer’s Disease.
Iris W. Y. Wong
PsyD Student
Iris obtained her Master Degree in Clinical Psychology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2006. She has been working in hospital settings since graduation, with specialization in perinatal psychiatric service for a decade. She is currently a third-year student in PsyD programme, with research interests in perinatal depression, parenting and mother-child attachment relationships.
Daniela Ruth Cavero
Trainee Clinical Psychologist
Daniela received an MSocSc in Psychology from HKU and an MSc in Early Intervention in Psychosis from King's College London. She is currently a first-year trainee clinical psychologist at HKU. She is particularly interested in exploring the associations between childhood trauma and functional outcomes in people with psychosis. In addition, she is also keen to further understand the role of cognition and poor functional outcomes in people with early psychosis, in the hope to identify more targeted interventions that can help improve this unmet need within the early psychosis population.
Yip Wing Hei
Clinical Psychology Student
Hei received his BSocSc (Hons) in Psychology from Hong Kong Shue Yan University. Before joining the current programme, he worked as a Psychology Assistant in Queen Elizabeth Hospital. During which, he served adult and elderly patients who suffered from different medical conditions. He is particularly interested in investigating the relationship between anxiety disorders and cognitive functions.
Research interests: Aging, interpretation bias, attention, anxiety, and neuropsychology
Rebecca Wong
Clinical Psychology Student
Rebecca received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from The Education University of Hong Kong. She has worked as Mental Health Education Officer in NGO, as Teaching Assistant and Research Assistant at local Universities, and as Clinical Psychology Assistant at HA before joining the master's programme. In her spare time, she enjoyed doing yoga and pole dancing to relieve stress. Through different movements, she was able to connect her mind with body, and express her emotions by these means. Also, she loves reading and writing to organize her thoughts and calm her mind.
Research interests: Trauma, post-traumatic growth, mood and cognition
Danny Wan
Clinical Psychology Student
Danny received his BSocSc in Psychology and MSocSc in Criminology from the University of Hong Kong (HKU). He worked as a Psychology Assistant in the Psychological Services Group in the Hong Kong Police Force, in which he facilitated workshops and trainings for the force members. He is currently undertaking clinical psychology training in HKU. His research interest lies in the mechanism of fear conditioning and extinction and its implication in anxiety disorders.
Eric Tang
Clinical Psychology Student
Eric received his BSocSc (Hons) in Psychology from The University of Hong Kong. Before joining the current programme, he worked as a research assistant at the Department of Psychiatry at HKU. His work focused on youth mental health, involving in assessment and low-intensity intervention work. Prior to that, he worked in Caritas Rehabilitation Services to serve students with autism spectrum disorder and adults with intellectual disability. His research interest lies in emotion regulation, trauma, and psychopathology. He is particularly interested in how emotion dysregulation mediates the relationship between childhood trauma and reflective functioning in mothers.
Caleb Tai
Clinical Psychology Student
Caleb received his BSocSc (Hons) in Psychology from The University of Hong Kong and MSc Clinical Mental Health Science from University College London. After graduation, he worked as a research assistant at the Department of Psychiatry at HKU. His work focused on youth mental health, involving the provision of assessment and low-intensity online interventions for youth. His research interests lie in executive functions, trauma, and psychopathology. He is particularly interested in understanding how executive functions mediate the relationship between childhood trauma and parental sense of competence in mothers with a history of substance use.
Maurice Lam
Clinical Psychology Student
Maurice is a clinical psychology trainee at HKU. He received his MSocSc in Psychology degree from CityU after obtaining his BBA in Economics degree from HKUST. Prior to joining the current programme, he has worked as a Psychology Assistant at Kwong Wah Hospital, in which he served patients who suffered from medical or neurological conditions in both in-patient and out-patient settings. His research interest lies in the interplay between emotion dysregulation, executive function, and mood functioning of adults with ADHD.
Vickie Lee
Lab Manager
Vickie is pursuing a part-time Master of Arts in Psychology at CUHK. Her studies focus on understanding the neurobiological foundations of mental disorders and their applications in clinical settings. Specifically, she is intrigued by the underlying neural processes related to fear acquisition and extinction. Through her previous research on borderline personality and relationship challenges during her final year independent study, Vickie has developed a keen interest in exploring how these mechanisms of fear acquisition and extinction can be applied to interpersonal conflicts.
Michelle Lam
Undergraduate Thesis Student
Michelle is a final year student at HKU, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Counselling. Her interests center around the exploration of cognitive, neurological, and behavioral mechanisms that underpin clinical disorders, with a particular focus on disorders related to fear and anxiety. Moreover, she is drawn to translational research that holds practical implications within the Asian cultural context. Currently, her research focuses on examining the impact of emotion regulation on fear acquisition and response within the Chinese population.
Zita Wong
Research Intern
Zita is a fourth-year undergraduate at HKU majoring in Psychology and Neuroscience. She is interested in understanding the neural constructs that contribute to emotions and psychopathology, which help inform treatment and healthy coping methods. Aspiring to practice Clinical Psychology, she values expanding knowledge on the subjective, psychopathological experience since it can facilitate practitioners’ empathy toward the person behind the disorder.
Bosco Au
Research Intern
Bosco is a final year undergraduate majoring in psychology and minoring in counselling. He is particularly interested in exploring the fascinating connection between clinical psychology and the human experience. With a specific focus on emotions and empathy, he is eager to delve into research topics that illuminate the understanding and enhancement of emotional well-being. Passionate about clinical psychology, Bosco is excited to join the lab and collaborate with like-minded individuals.
Fong Kai Hei
Research Intern
Kai is a third-year undergraduate student at HKU majoring in Psychology and Neuroscience. He is interested in the neuropsychological substrates of anxiety. Specifically, he is interested in understanding how anxiety can serve adaptive functions, and how its dysregulation can result in maladaptation and pathology, in the hope to better understand the nature of anxiety and inform treatments for the disorder.
Graduated members
Dr. Tony Lau (Ph.D. in Philosophy, MSocSc in Clinical Psychology)
Christy Cheung (MSocSc in Clinical Psychology)
Wendy Tam (MSocSc in Clinical Psychology)
Lucianna Lau (MSocSc in Clinical Psychology)
Andy Suen (MSocSc in Clinical Psychology)
Tiffany Hon (MSocSc in Clinical Psychology)
Joyce Ng (MSSoc in Psychology)
Tiffany Yuen (MSSoc in Psychology)
Winky Ho (MSSoc in Psychology)