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Qu Receives Early Career Award

April 30, 2021

Yang QuNorthwestern University developmental psychologist Yang Qu has received an Early Career Award from the Society for Research in Child Development’s Asian Caucus for his work studying the experiences of teenagers in the United States and China.

The award, which recognizes a scholar with less than eight years in an academic faculty position, supports the career development of Asian researchers and helps promote research with Asian children, youth, and families. 

Qu investigates psychological and neural mechanisms underlying cultural differences in adolescents’ academic, social, and emotional development. A second line of work examines how parents can influence adolescents’ beliefs, behavior, and brain development. In addition to surveys, observational and experimental methods, he uses neuroimaging to capture what’s happening in the brain.

A faculty associate of Northwestern’s Institute for Policy Research, Qu was also named a 2020 Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Sciences. His most recent published work, "A Call for Greater Attention to Culture in the Study of Brain and Development"  highlights "the importance of incorporating culture into the empirical investigation of neurodevelopment."

Read more about Qu's research.