College of Education and Human Development

Institute of Child Development

Akira Wang

  • Pronouns: she, her, hers

  • Doctoral Student

  • Institute of Child Development
    Carmen D. and James R. Campbell Hall
    51 East River Parkway
    Minneapolis, MN 55455

  • wang6225@umn.edu
Akira Wang

Areas of interest

Developmental neuroscience; Early childhood; Resilience; Stress and maltreatment; Vulnerable populations

Degrees

BSc in Psychology and minor in neuroscience from McGill University (2015-2019)
MPH from Emory University (2019-2021): Cari J. Clark Global Scholarship

Biography

I am a PhD student in the developmental psychopathology and clinical science program at the University of Minnesota starting in the Fall of 2023. I will be working with Dr. Sylia Wilson and other amazing faculty at the Institute of Child Development. My research examines the biopsychosocial consequences of early life stress in children, with an emphasis on parental characteristics. I am particularly interested in using data-driven approaches and behavioral genetics to study how stress alters the normative trajectory of brain development, leveraging neuroimaging techniques to identify prodromal indicators of psychopathology. I am also interested in delineating individuals' differences in their susceptibility and resilience to mental disorders through investigating neural structures, connectivity, and how individuals are embedded in the society at the interpersonal and societal levels. 

Publications

Wang, C., Keilp, J. G., Galfalvy, H., Bridge, J. A., Sheftall, A. H., & Szanto, K. (2023). Entrapment and social problem-solving in suicidal behavior across the adult lifespan. Journal of Affective Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.02.099

Wang, C., La Barrie, D. L., Powers, A., Stenson, A. F., van Rooij, S. J. H., Stevens, J. S., Jovanovic, T., Bradley, B., McGee, R. E., & Fani, N. (2022). Associations of maternal emotion regulation with child white matter connectivity in Black American mother-child dyads. Developmental Psychobiology, 64(7). https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.22303

Schreiber, Z.*, Wang, C.*, Tan, A., Riva-Posse, P., McDonald, W. M., Crowell, A., Hermida, A. P., & Hershenberg, R. (2021). Do baseline anxiety symptoms impact response to IV Ketamine in treatment resistant depression? Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, 6, 100253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2021.100253 

*Denotes equal contribution as first authors