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-  An Alumni Story of Dr. Charlene Lok Man Lam, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology

Dr. Lam (right) with Professor Tatia Lee (2nd from right),
supervisor at HKU, and associates

Shouts of joy fill the air as the volleyball match draws to a close. The triumphant team, jubilant players in black and yellow school colours, swarm together then disperse amongst their supporters. A happy moment indeed. The young Charlene Lam, a keen player, enjoyed the game. But Charlene also loved to study, and she enjoyed reading: her favourite book was Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. 

Looking back at her humble upbringing in Hong Kong, Dr. Lam says that she was always curious. She therefore welcomed the opportunity to go abroad, ‘to see the world’, and so she gained her High School diploma in the US. 

She continued her US studies as an undergraduate at the prestigious Middlebury College. Here she developed her interest in studying people. She embraced the challenges of the liberal arts programme, finding that amongst the different fields of knowledge, it was psychology that drew her attention. "Psychology is all about people; I want to help people, to serve people, to work with people," Dr. Lam says. What attracts her to the discipline is the use of empirical studies to understand humans – it is "a marriage between art and science".

Dr. Lam’s contented US study experience, however, was brought to an abrupt end by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Her parents brought her back to Hong Kong, where she studied hard and went on to graduate early from the Chinese University of Hong Kong with a master’s in clinical psychology. 

With a year in hand, Charlene asked herself the question – What is happiness? The hands-on experience working first as an elevator operator then in the real estate department in Disneyland in Florida enabled Dr. Lam to interact directly with all types of people, gaining valuable insight into their thinking: "I realised that the world can’t be happy all the time. There are many unfortunate people and a lot of suffering."

Dr. Lam looked to HKU to further her search for answers. HKU had an expert in the field of neuropsychology and human neuroscience – Professor Tatia Mei Chun Lee. Of her PhD mentor and role model Dr. Lam says, "I am indebted to her on both a personal and professional level. She showed me the importance of being an empathetic and effective clinician."

Dr. Lam also praises HKU as the perfect platform to connect with other colleagues around the world, with opportunities for fellowships, scholarships and overseas study exchanges. Her own experience was with the dynamic partnership between HKU and King's College London (KCL). At KCL, her mentor Dr. Jenny Yiend, an expert in psychopathology, was both supportive and nurturing and demonstrated how experiments in the lab can be transferred to the real world. 

She highlights the wonderful opportunities gained during her PhD study to experience different methodologies in experimental psychology and particularly emphasises that although there are different levels of research, "Everyone wants to achieve the same goal and that is to improve mental health. The experience was really amazing!"

In turn, Dr. Lam's has advice for future psychology students: "Pause and reflect – as a therapist, as a researcher and as a person – and be grateful."

With many publications under her belt, Dr. Lam is now focussing on bridging the gap between neuroscience research and clinical practice. She explains that she is currently "examining the plasticity of fear memory and its reconsolidation...I hope to see how we can harness the window of reconsolidation and modulate the negative impacts of fear related memories in anxiety and PTSD."

With such intense research at work how does Dr. Lam switch off? "At home, happiness is playing with my baby, Meredith, programming with my husband and practising yoga." In truth, as Aldous Huxley said, "happiness is never grand". 

For Dr. Lam, happiness is also relieving the mental anguish of others. At HKU, through the lens of clinical psychology, she passionately seeks solutions. If life were a game of volleyball, then that would be her winning shot.