ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
Academic Positions
10/2019 - Present Assistant Professor
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center
Departments of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Obstetrics & Gynecology
Worcester, MA
Contributing Faculty, Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences:
Neuroscience Program, MD/PhD Program, Translational Science Program,
Clinical and Population Health Research, and Master of Science in Clinical Investigation Program
Attending Clinical Psychologist
Outpatient Psychiatry Services
UMass Memorial Medical Center, Worcester, MA
4/2015 - 6/2019 Assistant Professor
Baylor College of Medicine
Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Psychiatry, and Pediatrics
Houston, TX
Attending Clinical Psychologist
Texas Children's Hospital, Pavilion for Women
Center for Reproductive Psychiatry, Houston, TX
Education and Training
Postdoctoral Fellowship
Baylor College of Medicine
Department of Pediatrics and Menninger Department of Psychiatry, Houston, TX
Doctoral Clinical Psychology Internship
The Menninger Clinic
Baylor College of Medicine, Menninger Department of Psychiatry, Houston, TX
Ph.D., Clinical Psychology
Rosemead School of Psychology, La Mirada, CA
M.A., Clinical Psychology
Rosemead School of Psychology, La Mirada, CA
B.A., Psychology
Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
PROFESSIONAL LICENSURE
3/2020 - Present Licensed Psychologist, State of Massachusetts
6/2019 - Present National Register Health Service Psychologist
9/2014 - Present Licensed Psychologist, State of Texas
RESEARCH SUMMARY
I am a clinical psychologist and developmental scientist committed to advancing the science of the developing human social brain. My work seeks to: (1) discover early neural markers in the infant’s social brain that predict long-term developmental outcomes, (2) identify potentially modifiable early-life factors that influence the trajectory of the developing social brain, and (3) translate these discoveries into innovative strategies for early diagnosis, prevention, and treatment in high-risk children and families for enduring impact.
My training as a clinical psychologist has spanned the fields of psychiatry, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology, resulting in a uniquely integrated perspective on the interplay of genes and environment in early neurodevelopment. My work has focused on parents and infants during the first year of life, as I recognized this earliest period as a critical time during which identification of at-risk individuals and intervention to mitigate risks can be highly effective, with far-reaching implications.
My current work (National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, NIH) uses innovative multimodal neuroimaging techniques to establish first-in-human neural markers that can detect early differences and deficits in the infant’s developing social brain. This line of work holds promise in discovering early signs of vulnerability in the developing brain that will be instrumental in predicting neurodevelopment and mental health outcomes many years later.
CLINICAL SUMMARY
I specialize in: (1) early-life experience, attachment disturbance, and trauma, and their complex clinical manifestations in adulthood (ranging from complex PTSD and personality disorders [e.g., borderline] to chronic mood/anxiety disorders), and (2) psychiatric conditions that directly shape early-life experience, especially in the first year of life (perinatal and infant mental health).