Prior to completing her doctoral work, Dr. Paat has worked as a statistical research specialist, child welfare specialist, clinician, and social service specialist in Oklahoma. Trained in the field of sociology (areas of concentration: sociology of the family and quantitative methods), she is actively involved in research related to children's well-being, mental health, community health, family violence, education, social justice, migration, and immigration issues. Specifically, her scholarship focuses on how family ecology and family process shape family well-being, health behaviors, and social integration over the family life cycle in both immigrant and non-immigrant communities. Originally from Malaysia, Dr. Paat is trilingual in English, Chinese, Malay and proficient in four Chinese dialects.