People

Primary Investigator/Director

Dr. Keiana Mayfield (she/her) is an Assistant Professor at George Mason University in the department of Social Work in the College of Public Health. Dr. Mayfield earned a doctorate in the Human Development and Family Studies program at The Pennsylvania State University and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and her bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Studies of Women and Gender Studies from the University of Virginia.

Her research interests lie at the intersection of child development and sociocultural contextual factors. Her work focuses on how families and schools influence child and adolescent development. She examines how a combination of individual characteristics, socialization processes and sociocultural factors support (or undermine) child and adolescent development across contexts using advanced statistical methodologies. Her research strives to create and inform intervention and prevention programs working to support children and adolescents in family and school contexts. 

Liam Fish

Liam Fish is currently an MSW student at George Mason University. Liam is a first year in the three-year program with plans to specialize in Children Youth & Families. He previously majored in Sociology at William & Mary, focusing his senior research thesis examining the average distance to public libraries for different racial demographics in Virginia. His main academic interests are child development and school social work. Liam is a member of the George Mason Club Baseball team. In his free time, he likes to play video games, read manga, and play with his cat Thunder.

Liam joined the research lab in 2024.

Jia Li Liu

Jia Li is a second-year MSW student at George Mason University. She holds a master’s and PhD in Human Development and Family Studies and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, all from the University of Connecticut. Her research interests center on the role of culture in parenting, including how parental beliefs and practices are shaped by immigration and acculturation. She is passionate about community-based participatory research, qualitative methods, and translating findings into culturally responsive programming for families, educators, and frontline workers. Outside of school and work, she enjoys exploring new playgrounds with her children, discovering local restaurants, and re-creating childhood recipes (with varied success).

Jia Li joined the research lab in 2026.