Jonathan Daw

Jonathan Daw is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Demography at Pennsylvania State University’s College of the Liberal Arts. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor of Medical Sociology at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, with postdoctoral training in gene-environment interplay at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

His research focuses on social network determinants of health disparities, particularly in kidney transplantation, and the structural racism impacts on kidney disease outcomes. He leads NIH-funded projects studying racial/ethnic disparities in living donor kidney transplants and the effects of structural racism on end-stage kidney disease. His work incorporates community advisory boards to ensure community alignment. Earlier research explored gene-environment interactions in adolescent health and U.S. kinship networks.

Teaching responsibilities include courses on medical sociology, demography, research methods, and biodemography. In 2025, he will teach a graduate seminar on Health Disparities and a statistical methods course.

Key research areas include healthcare disparities, social networks, structural racism, and gene-environment interactions. His recent publications emphasize kidney transplantation equity, racial disparities in healthcare access, and long-term health outcomes linked to early-life socioeconomic conditions.