Studying Perinatal Well-being

This month's MONA podcast guest is Dr. Cindy H. Liu, who examines the critical experiences of adolescents and college students to understand complex developmental and cultural experiences. Dr. Liu shares findings from a COVID-19-related study highlighting how unexpected residential moves affected college students’ mental health. We also hear about her current fascinating study that examines the intersection between identity, discrimination, and mental health among Chinese American adolescents. This line of research can help pave the way for understanding the perinatal experiences of racially and ethnically diverse individuals.

Guest biograph:

Cindy H. Liu, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist, the Director of the Developmental Risk and Cultural Resilience Program, and an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School within the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry. She also serves as the Director of the NICU Parent Mental Health Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Her program of research focuses on the measurement and mechanisms of stress and its impact on mental health across key points within the developmental lifespan and implications for women, children, and underrepresented populations. She is currently a principal investigator for several studies, including the Perinatal Experiences and COVID-19 Effects (PEACE) Study, a longitudinal study that seeks to understand the experiences of pregnant and postpartum women throughout the pandemic and the COVID-19 Adult Resilience Experiences Study (CARES) which focuses on mental health and well-being in diverse young adults. She is also the principal investigator of the BOBA Project (www.thebobaproject.com), a study funded by three NIH grants that examine how Chinese American teens learn about the Asian identity within their family, their peers, and social media. Her work has been funded by foundations and philanthropy and featured in various outlets, including the New York Times, USA Today, and CBS News. In 2023, she received Clarivate’s Highly Cited designation, awarded to scientists with the top 1% of citations. She received her degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Oregon and completed her clinical internship at McLean Hospital and a postdoctoral fellowship at Boston Children's Hospital.