James J. Li

I am 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). I use these methods to study childhood neurodevelopmental and externalizing behaviors, including ADHD, autism, conduct and substance use behaviors. My research combines rigorous measures of the psychosocial environment with state-of-the-art genomic strategies to study the origins and developmental pathways of psychopathology. I am also interested in addressing issues pertaining to diversity and equity in genetics research and in the clinical psychological sciences more broadly.

I received my B.A. in Psychological and Brain Sciences from Johns Hopkins University and my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from UCLA (minor in Quantitative Psychology). I 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). I enjoy playing and watching basketball, cooking, and generally being outdoors (just not in the winter…). My wife and I are parents to two cats:  Bean and Ladybird.