Frances Wang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Wang is a licensed clinical psychologist whose research focuses on understanding the genetic and environmental influences underlying alcohol use disorder (AUD). Her research program aims to accomplish this goal in several ways. First, she conducts research using measured genomic data within large, existing datasets to study how genetic factors influence the development of AUD. She is currently the principal investigator on a K01 Award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA; Teen Gene Study). She is particularly interested in understanding how our current approaches to phenotyping of important alcohol-related constructs (e.g., AUD diagnoses) affects genomic discoveries for and estimates of genetic correlation with AUD.
Dr. Wang also leads research to better understand the etiology of important alcohol-related mechanisms. For example, Dr. Wang is conducting several studies to better understand the assessment, causes and consequences of loss of control over alcohol use (ASK Study; ASK-Teen Study) and of alcohol tolerance and subjective response to alcohol (ASK Study). Dr. Wang is also conducting research to measure and better understand contributors to transdiagnostic loss of control over any behavior with potent reward value (e.g., alcohol, eating, other substance use, gambling, gaming, social media; UnLOC Study). Finally, Dr. Wang is involved in research to understand the role of externalizing problems, like ADHD, on AUD (PALS). Her research benefits from the use of a variety of methods, including community-engagement, qualitative methods, advanced quantitative methods, and genetics.
Dr. Wang is committed to training and mentoring students across various stages. She provides clinical supervision for clinical psychology interns and serves as a faculty member on the Development Alcohol Research Training Program (T32) and the Enhancing Diversity in Alcohol Research (EDAR) Program. Please reach out to Dr. Wang directly if you are interested in further training opportunities in her lab.
View Dr. Wang's Curriculum Vitae (CV) »
Current Research Projects
Education & Training
- University of Maryland, College Park, BS, Psychology
- Arizona State University, PhD, Clinical Psychology
- Predoctoral Internship: Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic