Wendy Li

Dr Wendy Li is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Associate Dean for Research in College of Healthcare Sciences at James Cook University, Australia. A/Prof Li is the Founding Chair of the AusAsian Mental Health Research Alliance (AMHRA). She founds and leads the Mindfulness Lab at JCU. A/Prof Li is a qualified MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) teacher certified by Brown University. A/Prof Li has won external and internal grants worth more than $600,000 in the research fields of mental health (veteran, migrants, international students and refugees), ageing, migration and problem gambling. She also collaborates with researchers in China on research into Chinese mental health through her appointments of an Adjunct Professor of Shanxi University and Taiyuan Psychiatric Hospital.

A/Prof Li was a recipient of New Zealand Top Achiever Doctoral Scholarship. She was one of the five recipients of the JCU Rising Stars Early Career Researcher Leadership Program in 2012.  She was awarded a Research Performance Award by Faculty of Arts, Education and Social Sciences in 2012 in recognition of her research excellence. A/Prof Li serves as a Co Editor-in-Chief for the Asian Journal of Social Psychology, and an Associate Editor for Applied Psychology: Health and Wellbeing and Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Palgrave Handbook of Third-Wave Psychotherapies, which will be published in early 2025.

A/Prof Li's primary research methodology training in China was on quantitative research. After she migrated to New Zealand in 2003, through her clinical work as a counsellor, A/Prof Li found qualitative research was fascinating and employed it in both her Masters (Research) and PhD research. A/Prof Li is interested in using quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods methodologies to investigate social, cultural and psychological determinants (e.g., socioeconomic status, filial piety, mindfulness, and personality) for mental health. She is also interested in using cross-cultural indigenous approach to exploring indigenous compatibility across cultures.

A/Prof Li has been active in voluntary sectors for many years in Australia and New Zealand. She was the founding Chairperson of the Hamilton Chinese Golden Age Society of New Zealand and President of the Townsville Chinese Club, a Committee Member of Townville Sisters Cities Program and a Member of the Inclusive Community Advisory Committee for the Townsville City Council.