Our Team
LAB DIRECTOR
Director
I graduated from the University of Toronto with an Honours Bachelor Degree in Human Biology, and Master Degree in Physiology with special research interest in diabetes, supervised by Dr. Mladen Vranic. I chose to pursue a career in education after obtaining the Postgraduate Certificate in Education from the University of Hong Kong. After several years of teaching at a secondary school in Hong Kong, I started a new in the field of psychology under the Postgraduate Certificate of Psychology, and continued to complete my doctoral degree in Educational Psychology at the University of Hong Kong, under the supervision of Prof. Terry Au. I am currently the director of the Master of Social Sciences Programme in Educational Psychology. My research interests include reading acquisition, biliteracy development, educational intervention, autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Post - Doctoral Fellow
Hi all! I'm Jeanne, I completed my doctoral degree under the supervision of Dr Kathy Shum and currently work as a post-doc fellow at the Child and School Psychology Laboratory. I obtained my bachelor’s degree majoring in psychology at HKU and a MSc in Child Development and Education from Oxford University. My research focuses on early childhood development, particularly on children with special needs such as ADHD. I am passionate about promoting children’s well-being and thrive on making a real impact through research.
RESEARCH ASSISTANTS
Senior Research Assistant / Project Executive
Hello~ I am May, who graduated from the University of South Australia with Bachelor Degree in Psychological Science. I am pleased to be the research assistant in the Child and School Psychology Laboratory. I am interested in the correlation between psychological development of children and parenting style. I hope to do as much as possible that can contribute to the lab, help them to find ways through the results of researches in order to enhance students learning skills and improve their learning environment.
Research Assistant
Hello Everyone! I am Cythia. I obtained my Master in Educational and Development from UCL (United Kingdom), after earning a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) at the University of Surrey (United Kingdom). I am currently working as a research assistant in the Child and School Psychology Laboratory. I am particularly interested in understanding the social-cognitive mechanisms underpinning the development of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism. I am also interested in how educational intervention could enhance students with neurodevelopmental disorders. Besides, I am a fan of snowboarding and Racing.
Research Assistant
Hello everyone, I am Jiaxi. I am graduated from Sun Yat-sen University with a Bachelor Degree in Atmospheric Science. Because of my personal experience, I decided to devote myself to the field of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and obtained my Master in Neuroscience & Education from University of Bristol. My research interests are mainly in development of social brain and theory of mind in adolescents with ASD, mathematical abilities and numerical cognition in individuals with ASD, and gut microbiota in individuals with ASD as well. I am really glad to work as a research assistant and be a PhD student in the Child and School Psychology Laboratory.
Research Assistant
Research Assistant
Hello I'm Pris! I graduated from University of Cambridge with a Bachelor Degree in Education with Psychology and Learning. After graduation, I worked as a teacher and research assistant. Building on my experience working with children, I continued my education with an MSc in Developmental and Educational Psychology at UCL. I am deeply passionate about exploring diverse strategies to incorporate the neurodiversity paradigm in both practice and research to better serve children with special educational needs.
Research Assistant
Hi, I am Kathy, currently a PhD student supervised by Dr. Shum. I graduated from the University of Hong Kong with an Honour Bachelor Degree in Arts. I used to work in this lab as an intern and a research assistant, so I have been a member of this family for a long time! I am interested in neurodevelopment deficits, learning disorders, and educational intervention, especially children/adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). My thesis focuses on the development of behavioral-emotional functioning in children with ADHD.
POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS
PhD Student
I am Lucy, a PhD student supervised by Dr. Kathy Shum. I graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong with a Bachelor Degree in BBA and a Master Degree in Psychology. With strong interest in mental health, I obtained another Master’s degree in Social Sciences (Mental Health) from the University of Hong Kong. My research interests include human-animal interaction, attachment, resilience and well-being of children with ASD. My current PhD thesis focuses on the social and emotional benefits of human-animal interaction for children with ASD.
PsyD Student
Hi, I am Sze, a part-time PsyD(EP) student supervised by Dr. Kathy Shum. I obtained a Bachelor’s degree and a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a Master of Social Sciences in Educational Psychology from the University of Hong Kong. In the past years I provide educational psychology services at special schools, mainstream primary and secondary schools. As a practicing Educational Psychologist, I am particularly interested in children and teenager social and emotional development and well-being. My research interests include the social functioning of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
PhD Student
Hi, I am Kerina, a Ph.D. student supervised by Dr. Kathy Shum. I graduated from Beijing Normal University - Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (UIC) with an Honours Bachelor's degree in Applied Psychology, and obtained my Master's degree in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University. I am dedicated to studying the development of psychological resilience and finding ways to improve resilience of different groups of children. During my doctoral studies, I will focus on exploring the longitudinal impacts of parent-child relationship and emotion regulation on psychological resilience in both autistic and non-autistic groups using mixed methods.
PhD Student
I am Michelle, a part-time PhD student with a BA (Hons) in Natural Sciences – Psychology from the University of Cambridge, and an MSocSc in Educational Psychology as well as a PGDE in Chinese from the University of Hong Kong. I have worked extensively as an educational psychologist across diverse settings, including early education and training centre, local and international schools, universities, the Education Bureau, and private practice. I am passionate about providing individualized counseling and training, in addition to advocating for systemic, policy, and cultural changes to better support children in need. Having observed that many students struggle with mental health challenges seemingly linked to a lack of life purpose, my current research explores how youth purpose develops and its impact on young people's learning motivation and emotional well-being.
PsyD Student
Hello everyone! I’m Rachelle, a part-time PsyD student supervised by Dr. Kathy Shum. After I obtained my professional qualification as an educational psychologist, I have worked in various settings including kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, university and private centre to offer educational psychology service. I am passionate to better understand children’s developmental needs and to su pport their parents and teachers in nurturing the next generations. My specialty training focuses on supporting young children with developmental needs; while my research aims to explore holistic processing of Chinese characters among kindergarteners.
PhD Student
Hi, I am Queenie. I completed my BSc Psychology at University College London and my MSc Genes, Environment and Development in Psychology and Psychiatry at King’s College London. I am a PhD student supervised by Dr Kathy Shum (HKU), Prof Francesca Happé (KCL), and Dr Eva Loth (KCL). I am broadly interested in mental health and child wellbeing. This led me to work in autism research and psychological services before joining the lab. Particularly, I am interested in the social and cognitive development and wellbeing across the autism spectrum and extending the research to understand related processes in neurotypical development. My PhD research explores social coping strategies across autistic and non-autistic people in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, using a mixed-methods and lifespan approach.
PhD Student
Hi, I’m Franny. I am a part-time PhD student supervised by Dr. Kathy Shum. I obtained the Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Master of Social Sciences in Counselling from the City University of Hong Kong. With extensive experience working with children with Special Education Needs (SEN) across hospital, school, and non-governmental organization settings, I am passionate about supporting children’s development holistically. As an occupational therapist, my interests focus on sensory processing and its impact on children’s growth and well-being. My current research explores sensory processing issues in children with ADHD, aiming to better understand and support their unique needs.
PhD Student
Hello, my name is Michael. I am a part-time PhD candidate under the co-supervision of Dr. Kathy Shum and Prof. Shui-fong Lam. I obtained my Bachelor’s degree from Imperial College London, Master’s degree from Oxford University, Postgraduate Certificate in Psychology, and Master of Social Sciences from the University of Hong Kong. As a practising Educational Psychologist, I am particularly interested in the development of higher order thinking in adolescents. My PhD study explores the relations between motivation, goal pursuit, and the creative process.
PhD Student
I am Jacqueline, a part-time PhD student supervised by Dr. Kathy Shum. I obtained my Bachelor of Social Sciences with a major in Psychology and a minor in Applied Child Development, and also a Master of Social Sciences in Educational Psychology from the University of Hong Kong. As a practicing Educational Psychologist, I am particularly interested in early childhood development. After years of frontline practice, I decided to pursue further study and acquire advanced knowledge and skills to serve children, teachers, and families. My research seeks to explore early screening of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in two ways. Firstly, I examine the factors that can facilitate conceptual change for preschool teachers in using a classroom observation scale for autism. Secondly, I aim to identify a potential micro-biomarker of ASD. Early identification and intervention can have enormous benefits for the lives of children and their families. I hope my research can contribute to the early identification of young children with autism.
PsyD Student
Hello, I’m Kelvin, a part-time PsyD candidate supervised by Prof. Kathy Shum. I graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) with an Honours Degree in Psychology and obtained Master’s Degrees in Counselling Psychology from Hong Kong Shue Yan University and in Professional Educational Psychology from CUHK. As a practicing Counselling and Educational Psychologist, I have worked in various settings, including the Education Bureau, mainstream schools, tertiary institutions, and private centers, focusing on self-compassion and social-emotional development for individuals with diverse learning needs. My PsyD research explores psychological well-being in young individuals with ADHD and the effectiveness of self-compassion interventions.
PhD Student
I received the Bachelor's degree with First Class Honors in Social Sciences from the University of Hong Kong (double major in Psychology and Chinese Language and Literature). I am interested in cognitive and educational psychology. My current research focuses on the visual patterns of individuals with and without ASD, collaborative learning, mind wandering, and joint attention.
PsyD Student
Hello everyone! I'm Phoebe, and I'm a second-year PsyD student working under the supervision of Dr. Shum. My research interests are focused on executive function and language development among neurodivergent children. I completed my undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of Minnesota and went on to earn my master's degree in school psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. After graduation, I worked as a school psychologist in a public school in the greater Vancouver area, Canada. Currently, I am a full-time educational psychologist and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) in a private practice.
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