Hess Week 2026: Struggling, Surviving, Thriving—Asian American Mental Health

This event brings together leading experts in the field of psychology, sociology, and Asian American studies to discuss mental health, socio-emotional, and developmental challenges facing Asian Americans, with an emphasis on adolescents and college students.

Presenters include:

• Russell M. Jeung, 2025–26 Robert L. Hess Scholar in Residence, professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, and co-founder of Stop AAIP Hate. He is author of Family Sacrifices: The Worldviews and Ethics of Chinese Americans; Moving Movers: Student Activism and the Emergence of Asian American Studies; At Home in Exile: Finding Jesus Among My Ancestors and Refugee Neighbors; and Faithful Generations: Race and New Asian American Churches. Jeung co-produced the documentary The Oak Park Story (2010), about a landmark housing lawsuit involving Cambodian and Latino tenants. He was named as one of the TIME 100 Most Influential Persons in 2021.
• Clarissa S.L. Cheah, professor of psychology and Asian studies faculty affiliate at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. A cultural development scientist, Cheah’s research illuminates how individual, relational, and contextual factors shape the socio-emotional, mental, and physical health of children and adolescents, with a sustained focus on Asian American and Muslim American families. Her innovative mixed-methods work advances conceptual frameworks on parenting, racial-ethnic identity socialization, and development, offering culturally grounded perspectives on development in the context of migration, marginalization, and resilience. She is president of the Society for the Research on Adolescence, and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development.
• Cindy Liu, licensed clinical psychology and associate professor of pediatrics and psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. Liu is the director of the Developmental Risk and Cultural Resilience Program as well as the NICU Parent Mental Health Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Her research focuses on the measurement and mechanisms of stress and its impact on mental health across the developmental lifespan. Liu is currently principal investigator on several studies, including the BOBA Project, the largest NIH-funded study on Asian American adolescents. Her work has been supported by foundations and philanthropy and featured in outlets including The New York Times, USA Today, and CBS News. In 2023, she received Clarivate’s Highly Cited designation, recognizing scientists in the top 1% of citations.