Dr. Lau, Poh Li, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia, and a Registered Counsellor with the Board of Counsellors (Malaysia). She earned a Bachelor of Counselling with distinction (2006) and was awarded the University of Malaya Book Prize, followed by a fast-track PhD in Counselling (2011). She completed a two-year postdoctoral scholarship in counseling psychology at Indiana University Bloomington, United States (2016-2018). She began her academic career at Universiti Malaya in 2007 as a tutor and has since remained deeply committed to advancing excellence in counselling education and research. Dr. Lau specializes in counselling, with sub-specialties in career counselling and positive psychology in counselling. She has supervised 11 PhD students to completion.

In terms of publications, Dr. Lau has authored over fifty scholarly publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles, academic books, and book chapters. Her work appears in high-impact international journals across counselling, career development, education, and the social sciences, such as Career Development Quarterly, Journal of Career Development, British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, Journal of Diversity in Higher Education and The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher. She currently has an h-index of 8 with over 200 citations in Scopus. On the Web of Science Core Collection, she holds an h-index of 6 with more than 119 citations (115 excluding self-citations).

Dr. Lau has served as Program Coordinator for the Master of Professional Counseling (2024–present), the Master of Education (By Research) (2020–2024), and the Bachelor of Counseling (2014–2016; 2018–2020), leading curriculum reviews and program enhancement initiatives. She has served as a panel reviewer on the Universiti Malaya Research Ethics Committee (UMREC) and on various faculty committees related to academic governance, examiner selection, and lecturer recruitment. 

At the national level, Dr. Lau contributes actively to the counselling profession in Malaysia. She is a registered counsellor with the Board of Counsellors (Malaysia) and also a lifetime member of the Counselling Association of Malaysia (Persatuan Kaunseling Malaysia Antarabangsa, PERKAMA International). She has been appointed to a national task force under the Malaysian Board of Counsellors to develop the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Online Counselling Services in collaboration with the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) and the Ministry of Higher Education. She was appointed as a panel reviewer for the revision and enhancement of the Malaysian Counsellor’s Code of Ethics under the the Board of Counsellors (Malaysia). She has served as a subject matter expert, external examiner, promotion assessor, and jury member for national and international counselling innovation competitions, and she has contributed to instrument development and module validation projects. She was also a mentor to emerging scholars as assistant coordinator of the National Young Counselling Scholars (NYCS) under PERKAMA. 

Internationally, Dr. Lau is recognised for her leadership in career counseling within the Asia-Pacific region. She was elected President-Elect (2025) of the Asia Pacific Career Development Association (APCDA), undertaking a three-year presidential leadership commitment that includes serving sequentially as President (2026–2027) and Past President (2027–2028). Prior to this appointment, she served as Malaysia Representative and Co-Chair of the APCDA Research Committee, contributing to the advancement of regional research collaboration and scholarly initiatives. Dr. Lau also serves on the Editorial Board of The Career Development Quarterly, the flagship journal of the American Counseling Association (ACA) through its division, the National Career Development Association (NCDA), and a leading international journal in career counselling and development. She actively reviews for numerous Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus-indexed journals across counselling, career development, and applied psychology. In recognition of her sustained contributions to career development education and professional practice, Dr. Lau received the 2025 APCDA Outstanding Educator of Career Professionals Award.