I am currently a final year honours student majoring in psychology at SUSS.

While my initial motivations for pursuing this field were to conduct psychotherapy to alleviate distress, my extensive and eclectic readings have elucidated just how little we truly understand about psychopathology in both aetiology and nosology. Notably, the Twitter algorithm introduced me to Dr. Eiko Fried and the Netherlands school of thought on the network theory of psychopathology (Borsboom, 2017). This satiated my curiosities in how we might better comprehend the interactions between various biopsychosocial factors, a theme enveloping psychological science. Coupled with a renewed interest in statistics, I am now inclined to learning more about how we may mathematically model psychological phenomena.

I had the opportunity to support ongoing research projects in A/P Helen Zhou’s lab at NUS YLLSoM, during which I,

• Attained greater clarity in how network analysis falls under the structural equation modelling framework
• Formalised self-taught programming skills in R and Python
• Reinforced my desires to pursue academic research.

More recently, I was headhunted to join A/P Emily Ortega’s lab at SUSS as a research assistant, where I conducted statistical analyses for the NCSS-NAK 360 Panel Study. Remarkably, I was accorded the freedom to apply my interest in network psychometrics toto apply my interest in network psychometrics to probe high-dimensional mixed data—an endeavour that culminated in my first-ever conference presentation at the 2024 Conference on Complex Systems.

Beyond my primary lab, I have also volunteered to assist on projects led by other principal investigators who recognised and encouraged my application of advanced statistical methods. These include implementing fNIRS preprocessing pipelines in Python at A/P Atiqah Azhari’s BRAIN lab and conducting analysis of international big-data(sets) at Dr. Vincent Oh’s LAWS lab. Through these cross-lab collaborations, I continue to deepen my intra-disciplinary expertise in network psychometrics, latent variable modeling, and time-series modelling. These experiences have solidified my commitment to pursuing a PhD in Quantitative Psychology, where I hope to contribute to the development and dissemination of formal models that more faithfully capture the complex dynamics of human behaviour.

Outside of academics, I am an EXCO member of SUSS’ student psychology society, PsyConnect, striving to enhance psychology (and statistics) education for fellow undergraduates. In my free time, I enjoy gaming (lately Monster Hunter Wilds, Clair Obscur, Stellaris, Snowrunner …), listening to K-Hip-Hop, and drinking tea (my favourites are pu-er, jasmine and matcha).