Dr. Kathy Do is an Assistant Project Scientist at the California Institute on Law, Neuroscience, and Education (CA Institute at UCLA) and UC|CSU Collaborative for Neuroscience, Diversity, and Learning. Dr. Do earned her B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from UCLA and Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology and Neuroscience from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she also completed her postdoctoral fellowship. Dr. Do’s research examines brain development, motivation, and social context to better understand how adolescents learn, make decisions, and develop healthy behaviors and relationships. She addresses these questions using experimental, neuroimaging, longitudinal, computational, and advanced statistical approaches. Her research is generously funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and foundation grants. She has published over 20 research studies on adolescent brain development, peer and parent influence, social motivation and learning, and risky and prosocial decision-making. Ultimately, this work seeks to leverage our understanding of the developing brain to inform practices and policies that help youth thrive in their diverse communities.
At the CA Institute at UCLA, Dr. Do spearheads research projects that integrate law, education, and neuroscience to improve literacy for vulnerable and justice-involved youth in California. She works with researchers, practitioners, and policy experts across the CA Institute–a multi-campus collaboration among UC Law SF, UCLA School of Education and UCSF Medical School–to examine the legal, educational, and mental health services for, and needs of, young people in the juvenile justice system, with the goal of disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline for future generations.
