Team | PEAR LAB

Principal Investigator

Li Niu (牛莉), Ph.D.

Dr. Li Niu is the Principal Investigator of the Puberty, Environment, and Adolescent Resilience (PEAR) Lab at Beijing Normal University. Dr. Niu’s research examines how biological development and social environments jointly shape adolescents' mental health, learning, and well-being.

Dr. Niu received her Ph.D. in Applied Developmental Psychology from Fordham University after earning master's degrees in Human Development and Family Studies from Purdue University and in Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her postdoctoral training at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, conducting interdisciplinary research at the intersection of developmental psychology, environmental health, and epidemiology. In 2022, she joined the Faculty of Psychology at Beijing Normal University, where she is an Associate Professor. She also holds an appointment as Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Dr. Niu’s research examines how biological development and social environments jointly shape adolescents' mental health, learning, and resilience. By integrating developmental psychology, epidemiology, and data science, she investigates how puberty, families, peer relationships, schools, neighborhoods, and broader social contexts influence developmental trajectories across adolescence. Her work combines longitudinal cohort studies, biological assessments, and advanced quantitative methods to identify modifiable factors that promote healthy development and reduce health disparities.

Dr. Niu's research has been published in leading journals, including Child Development, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Journal of Adolescent Health, Social Science & Medicine, and The Lancet Regional Health – Americas. Her work has been recognized with the NIH Matilda White Riley Behavioral and Social Sciences Early-Stage Investigator Best Paper Award and the Society for Research on Adolescence Emerging Scholars Spotlight.

Current Team

Graduate Students

Jiayi Yang (杨嘉翌), M.A.

Jiayi Yang is a first-year Ph.D. student at Beijing Normal University. She received a B.S. in Psychology from Beijing Forestry University in 2024 and an M.A. in Education from Beijing Normal University in 2026. Broadly, her research focuses on adolescent development and mental health. Specifically, she is interested in pubertal changes and experiences, adolescents’ self-perceptions (e.g., body image and self-concept), family and school influences on adjustment, and the promotion of positive youth development.

Qing Zhao (赵晴), B.S./B.B.A.

Qing Zhao is a second-year Ph.D. student in the direct-entry doctoral program at Beijing Normal University. She received a B.S. in Nursing and a B.B.A. in Business Administration from Shandong University in 2025. Her research broadly focuses on developmental mechanisms underlying adolescent mental health, with a particular interest in how biological processes and environmental contexts interact to shape emotional development.

Ruixin Zhang (张瑞欣), B.A.

Ruixin Zhang is a third-year graduate student in Psychology at Beijing Normal University. Her research focuses on adolescent development, with an emphasis on understanding how biological maturation, social contexts, and psychological processes interact to shape adolescents' adjustment. Her current interests include pubertal development, health-risk behaviors, school engagement, and the role of adaptive beliefs (e.g., mindsets) in promoting positive adolescent development.

Yun Zeng (曾韵), B.S.

Yun Zeng is a second-year master’s student in Psychology at Beijing Normal University. She received a B.S. in Materials Chemistry from Heilongjiang University in 2024. Broadly, she is interested in how appearance-based inequality shapes mental health, particularly through social evaluation, discrimination, and interpersonal experiences.

Wanning Dong (董婉宁), B.B.A.

Wanning Dong is a first-year Master's student in Psychology at Beijing Normal University. She received her B.B.A. from Hubei University of Economics in 2026.Her research interests center on adolescent development, particularly how pubertal maturation (e.g., timing and tempo) shapes emotional and behavioral trajectories. Specifically, she focuses on the intersection of puberty and developmental psychopathology, including the evolution of ADHD symptoms, mechanisms of adolescent anhedonia, and the interplay among pubertal changes, executive function, and emotional regulation.

Zhen Wang (旺珍), B.S.

Zhen Wang is a first‑year graduate student in the Mental Health Education program at Beijing Normal University. She received her B.S. in Psychology from Beijing Normal University in 2026. Broadly, she is interested in adolescent development, with a focus on pubertal‑related developmental processes.

Staff

Sen Liu (刘森), B.S.

Sen Liu is currently working as a research assistant in the PEAR Lab. He received a B.S. in Psychology from Beijing Normal University in 2025. His research focuses on adolescents' gendered experiences and their influences on mental health. Specifically, he is interested in how gender discrimination experiences, gender-related attitudes and other gender-inequality related factors shape mental health disparities across adolescents of different genders.