Lawrence H. Yang, PhD, focuses on research in several key areas of psychiatric epidemiology. This includes defining theoretical work on how culture is conceptualized in relation to stigma and implementing interventions to lessen the prevalence and distribution of this disease. Dr. Yang has applied this concept specifically to stigmatized illnesses in China, using empirical data to examine how stigma towards schizophrenia in this setting impedes symptomatic and social recovery. His work has advanced the study of psychiatric stigma among Asian Americans, and Chinese Americans specifically, contributing to epidemiology’s focus on treatment and illuminating the mechanisms that lead to mental health disparities.
Furthermore, Dr. Yang will be collaborating with the Center for Asian American Health Disparities Research to develop interventions with psychoses among Asian Americans and provide a national platform for this work. He is also examining the neurocognitive and social cognitive underpinnings of the new designation of a “high risk for psychosis”, a potentially transformative new syndrome to detect psychotic signs before symptoms develop into a full psychotic disorder. The findings from his work will help guide the implementation of this syndrome globally. In addition to his research in China, Dr. Yang is applying his work to new contexts and is currently involved in mental health research in Latin America.
