Julie Ma

Julie Ma is an Associate Professor of Social Work and Director of Academic Programs at the College of Health Sciences, University of Michigan-Flint. She specializes in child maltreatment, adverse childhood experiences, and neighborhood impacts on child behavior problems.

• PhD in Social Work (2015, Michigan State University)
• MSW in Social Work (2009, University of Michigan)

Her research focuses on physical punishment, gender inequality in parenting, and global child welfare. She employs advanced statistical methods like Bayesian analysis and latent class modeling to study cross-national trends.

Recent publications address parental discipline behaviors across 60 countries, spillover effects of macro-level violence, and moderation of child outcomes by socioeconomic factors. Awards include the 2022 Scholarly Achievement Award and 2021 Alvin Loving Faculty Initiative Award.

• $615,944.07 Flint Water Crisis SEF Grant (2024-2029)
• National Institutes of Health Grant ($467,894.00, 2023-2026)
• NIH Grant ($466,637.00, 2022-2025)