Fanghong Dong

Fanghong Dong

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

Education & Training


  • PhD: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2020
  • MA: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2020
  • M.Med: Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong Province, China, 2012
  • B.Med: Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong Province, China, 2006

Major Awards


  • Innovation Accelerator Award, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, 2023
  • Pilot grant award from the Center for Healthy Aging Behaviors and Longitudinal Investigation, University of Chicago, 2022
  • Campaign for Community Grant, Office of the Provost, University of Pennsylvania, 2020

Research Interests


Dr. Dong’s research is anchored in a stress-vulnerability-resilience framework, concentrating on identifying and mitigating traumatic stressors and environmental factors influencing psychotic/psychiatric symptoms. Dr. Dong has an excellent background in multiple disciplines including psychiatry, neuroscience, psychology, and statistics. Embracing a comprehensive life-span perspective, her previous work explores neurobiological aspects (sleep and stress biomarkers), neuroimaging (rsfMRI and task-based fMRI), and neuropsychological pathways (executive function and social cognition) contributing to psychiatric symptoms, particularly within early psychosis, depression, and dementia populations. Dr. Dong’s statistical expertise lies in longitudinal data analysis and study design, encompassing structural equation modeling (SEM), multilevel modeling, mediation and moderation analysis, network analysis, data mining, and missing data methods. She is also enthusiastic about fostering collaborative efforts and welcome interdisciplinary partnerships to support people with psychiatric/psychotic symptoms.

Key Publications


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