Simona Bignami

Simona Bignami is a Full Professor in the Department of Demography at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Montreal. Her research focuses on family demography, indigenous populations, social determinants of health, and social network analysis. She earned a Ph.D. (2004) and M.Sc. (2000) in Demography from the University of Pennsylvania and London School of Economics, respectively.

• Ph.D., Demography, University of Pennsylvania (2004)
• M.Sc., Demography, London School of Economics and Political Sciences (2000)

Her work combines innovative methodological approaches with empirical studies on household structures, fertility patterns, and pandemic impacts. Recent publications analyze family dynamics in Europe and Canada, particularly among indigenous populations, and the role of social networks in health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Current projects include 'Settling the Canadian West' (2025-2030) examining historical household structures, and 'Quantifying Indigenous family disruption' (2021-2026) using census data. She leads the Group d'Étude sur la Démographie Autochtone (GEDA) and has secured grants from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH).