April (Rong) Xia

Rong Xia, also known as April, is currently a second-year clinical psychology doctoral student in Dr. O’Brien’s MAP lab at BGSU. Born in Shenyang, China, Rong earned her B. Sc. in applied psychology from Dalian Medical University, China in 2015 and M.A. in clinical psychology from Eastern Illinois University in 2018. Her research interests include psycho-social and cognitive behavioral factors influencing stress and coping of chronic illness, physical symptoms in chronic illness, psycho-oncology and health psychology, traumatic experience and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in cancer populations, and quantitative research methods such as meta-analysis. Rong hopes to become a professional clinical researcher upon earning her doctorate. She is also a semi-pro ballerina as well as a part time landscape photographer at leisure time.