Xinyang joined King’s College London in October 2021 as a PhD student at the Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre. Prior to her PhD, she obtained her bachelor’s degree in medical laboratory technology and a double degree in psychology at Peking University. Then she received her master’s degree in basic psychology at the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in China.

The focus of her PhD research is to explore the bio-psycho-social risk factors of eating disorders in young people, supervised by Prof Sylvane Desrivières and Prof Ulrike Schmidt.

Award

King’s-China Scholarship Council PhD Scholarship (2021-2025)

Research interests

• Aetiology and underlying mechanisms of eating disorders
• Neuroimaging and epigenetic biomarkers of the vulnerability for eating disorders and comorbid disorders

Key publications

• Yu, X., & Desrivieres, S. (Accepted/In press). Altered anticipatory brain responses in eating disorders: a neuroimaging meta-analysis. European Eating Disorders Review.
• Yu, X., Liao, K., Turetsky, B. I., & Wang, K. (2022). Semantic processing features and schizotypal traits: A test-retest study. International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology, 178, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.06.002
• Yu, X., Liao, K., Niu, Z., Wang, K., Cheung, E. F. C., Li, X., & Chan, R. C. K. (2020). Resting frontal EEG asymmetry and schizotypal traits: a test-retest study. Cognitive neuropsychiatry, 25(5), 333–347. https://doi.org/10.1080/13546805.2020.1800448
• Yu, C.#, Yu, X.#, Fan, Z. T., Wang, K., & Littleton, H. (2020). Development and Validation of a BMI-Based Figure Rating Scale for Chinese Adolescents. Evaluation & the health professions, 163278720926714. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163278720926714
• Wang, K., Yu, X., Yu, C., Liu, Y., Chu, M., Zhang, R., Liang, R., Chen, J., Littleton, H., Shum, D., & Chan, R. (2020). Validation of the Chinese Version of the Body Image Concern Inventory. Evaluation & the health professions, 163278720979651. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163278720979651
• Wang, K., Liang, R., Yu, X., Shum, D., Roalf, D., & Chan, R. (2020). The thinner the better: Evidence on the internalization of the slimness ideal in Chinese college students. PsyCh journal, 9(4), 544–552. https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.346
• Yu, X., Tan, S., Wang, K., & Chan, R. C. (2019). A review of applications of resting-state electroencephalography in schizophrenia research. Chinese Mental Health Journal, 33(05): 349-354. http://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1000-6729.2019.05.006