James Li, PhD

Dr. James Li is a clinical psychological scientist with expertise in developmental psychopathology, quantitative methods (i.e., longitudinal models, factor analysis, structural equational modeling), and statistical genetics (i.e., GWAS, polygenic scores). He uses these methods to study childhood neurodevelopmental and externalizing behaviors, including ADHD, autism, conduct and substance use behaviors. His research combines rigorous measures of the psychosocial environment with state-of-the-art genomic strategies to study the origins and developmental pathways of psychopathology. He is also interested in addressing issues pertaining to diversity and equity in genetics research and in the clinical psychological sciences more broadly.

He received his B.A. in Psychological and Brain Sciences from Johns Hopkins University and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from UCLA (minor in Quantitative Psychology). He completed an APA-accredited clinical internship at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinics at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and a two-year NIH T32 postdoctoral fellowship in Psychiatric and Statistical Genetics at the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics (VIPBG). He enjoys playing and watching basketball, cooking, and generally being outdoors (just not in the winter…). Dr. Li and his wife are parents to three cats: Leopolitan, Bean, and Ladybird.