Faculty Mentor of the Week Yang Jiang College of Medicine, Behavioral Science
Dr. Yang Jiang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Behavioral Science in the College of Medicine. She is also an affiliated faculty member of the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, and of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Center at the College of Medicine. Dr. Jiang's research focuses on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying visual perception and cognition in healthy and clinical populations. In the past year, Dr. Jiang has mentored eight undergraduate students.
"It has been a gratifying experience to work with talented undergraduates through various UK undergraduate programs, such as Honors College and STEMCats. I have learned a lot from these students who have majors and minors in neuroscience, psychology, biology, public health, history, German, and engineering," she notes, "I feel rewarded through their achievements including getting into Ivy League universities, medical schools, or winning an undergraduate teaching award for assisting research training."
When asked what Dr. Jiang looks for in an undergraduate research mentee, she replied, "What I look for in a student is his/her research interests and passion and willingness to work for their goals. The most successful students in behavioral and clinical neuroscience are those who are self-motivated, excited to learn new skills, and team-players." She believes that "being a mentor comes with tremendous responsibility for guiding and developing a mentee's mind and soul, beyond simply passing on knowledge." She continues, "I have seen time after time that research accomplishment is a great predictor for undergraduates' future success. I am most proud when students tell me that their research experience has helped and shaped them into achieving bigger dreams."
The Office of Undergraduate Research would like to thank Dr. Yang Jiang for her dedication and support of undergraduate research. We greatly appreciate your efforts and celebrate you as this week's Faculty Mentor of the Week!
Dr. Yang Jiang - College of Medicine, Behavioral Science