Lab Director
Dr. Zheng is a Full Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Alberta in the Developmental Science area. He completed his Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies at Pennsylvania State University in 2014, with a concurrent degree of Master in Applied Statistics. He was a visiting graduate student at Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Germany (Center for Applied Developmental Science) in 2009 and King’s College London, UK (Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre) in 2013–2014. He further received postdoctoral training in developmental psychopathology and quantitative genetics in Simon Fraser University, Vancouver (Institute for the Reduction of Youth Violence) and Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal (Groupe de recherche sur l’inadaptation psychosociale chez l’enfant [GRIP]) in 2014–2017. Dr. Zheng received his B.S. in Psychology from Yuan Pei Honors College, Peking University in 2008.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Sojin Yoon (2025-) Ph.D.
Sojin earned her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Sungkyunkwan University and her Ph.D. in Educational Measurement and Statistics from Korea University, both in South Korea. Drawing on her training in clinical psychology and quantitative methods, Sojin studies statistical questions that arise in applied mental health research. Her goal is to help researchers select methods that fit their questions, apply those methods appropriately, and interpret the results. Her methodological interests include mixture modeling, multilevel modeling, and machine learning. Sojin is currently interested in using intensive longitudinal data to model day-to-day changes within individuals and examine how those patterns differ across individuals. In the lab, she applies and extends statistical models to study how adolescents’ daily experiences relate to their adjustment.
Graduate Students
Hao Zheng, M.S.
Hao is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Developmental Science program. He obtained his B.A. in Special Education from Beijing Normal University and his M.S. in Clinical Psychology from the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Prior to joining the Adolescent Development Lab, He served for one year as a school psychologist at a senior high school. His research employs a dimensional approach to understand the structure of psychopathology symptoms at micro timescales (e.g., day-to-day) among adolescents and young adults, and to examine how these structures evolve over macro timescales (e.g., years) throughout development. His current work focuses on the daily manifestations of impulsivity and their associations with proximal ecological factors. In his spare time, he enjoys working out, traveling, and photography.
Kehan Li, B.S.
Kehan received his Bachelor degree from Tsinghua University in China. His research interest lies on the emotional development of adolescents on multiple timescales. Specifically, he is interested in how families, peers, and other social contexts could shape adolescents’ development of emotion and emotion regulation process on both a short-term micro and a long-term macro timescale. With regard to methodology, he embraces advanced statistical techniques (e.g., GIMME, DSEM, Multilevel analysis) to explore the complex dynamics of intraindividual fluctuations in adolescents’ daily life. Besides, he is also an enjoyer of reading, listening to classical as well as fashion music, and playing video games.
Yiqun (Jerry) Wu, M.A.
Jerry is a first-year doctoral student in psychology in the lab. He got his Bachelor’s degree in Honors Psychology and M.A. at the University of Alberta under the supervision of Dr. Zheng. He is broadly interested in examining how proximal contexts, such as families and peers, influence Canadian ethnic-racial minority adolescent development across multiple timescales, with the aid of intensive longitudinal data. His master thesis investigates how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the daily dynamics between parenting behaviors and adolescent maladjustment. In his spare time, Jerry enjoys playing badminton, reading, and connecting with nature.
Rui (Theodore) Gong, M.A.
Rui is a Fall 2024 Ph.D. student in the Developmental Science program. He earned his Master’s degree with the Outstanding Graduate Award from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and his Bachelor’s degree from Sun Yat-sen University in mainland China. His research interests center on the antecedents and consequences of psychopathology symptoms across different timescales (e.g., daily and yearly), integrating advanced statistical modeling and machine learning approaches. He also has experience in conducting qualitative research with underrepresented populations. His current project focuses on how the development of callous-unemotional (CU) traits affects daily emotional dynamics and long-term socio-emotional outcomes. Outside of academia, Rui enjoys playing the piano, composing music, connecting with nature, reading, and learning new languages.