RGC Senior Research Fellow Scheme

Biography

Choh-Ming Li Professor of Psychology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong
A developmental psychologist whose research focuses primarily on literacy development and impairment across cultures, with current interests centering on identifying optimal predictors of dyslexia by incorporating behavioral, neuroscience, and genetics approaches
Has authored two books — Children’s Literacy Development (2016); Coping with Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, and ADHD: A Global Perspective (2019); has authored approximately 250 journal articles, with over 20,000 citations in google scholar
SRFS project — to test newly identified correlates of Chinese and English literacy longitudinally, for optimizing early identification of risk for reading impairment in both Chinese and English across Chinese-speaking societies, and further test the neural signatures and genetics of the targeted, specific behavioral correlates as well as basic, potentially universal processes in both Chinese and English
Awards and Honours:
- RGC Senior Research Fellow (2021)
- Founding President of the Association for Reading and Writing in Asia
- Senior Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study in Europe (EURIAS) (2017 – 2018)
- President, Society for the Scientific Study of Reading (2012)

Project Title

Optimizing Predictions of Dyslexia Cross-Culturally: Chinese and English Compared

Award Citation

Catherine McBride is a developmental psychologist whose research focuses primarily on literacy development and impairment across cultures. Her current interests center on identifying optimal predictors of dyslexia by incorporating behavioral, neuroscience, and genetics approaches. McBride is Choh-Ming Li Professor of Psychology at CUHK. She served previously as both President of the international Society for the Scientific Study of Reading and the Founding President of the Association for Reading and Writing in Asia. Currently, she is a member of both the Scientific Advisory Board for the International Dyslexia Association and the Publications Committee of the Society for Research in Child Development.

McBride has authored two books (Children’s Literacy Development (2016); Coping with Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, and ADHD: A Global Perspective (2019)) and edited four others related to literacy learning. She has authored approximately 250 journal articles, with over 20,000 citations in google scholar. She has been an associate editor for four different journals.

McBride’s research has had some practical impact. For example, together with NGO World Learning, she created a MOOC (massive open online course), entitled, “Teaching Struggling Readers around the World,” which was viewed by 10,000 people in 100 countries. Her research also provided the foundation for the Hong Kong Dyslexia Early Screening Scale to identify kindergartners at risk for reading difficulties. She has additionally established, with the Arcanys Foundation, a program to teach Filipino parents how to facilitate their children’s early literacy and mathematics skills. With colleagues, she started her own social impact company (Cayan Educational Design Limited) devoted to testing and training literacy skills.

McBride received the Research Mentorship Award from CUHK’s Faculty of Social Science in 2019. She has advised 16 Ph.D. students and several MPhils who have gone on to successful research careers, including those from Zambia, the Philippines, Iran, Malaysia, India, Hong Kong, and Mainland China.