Yushu Zhu is an Associate Professor at the School of Public Policy at Simon Fraser University. Her research focuses on housing stratification , urbanization , and social equity , with a particular emphasis on immigrant communities , low-income populations , and ethnic minorities . She teaches courses on housing policy, urban transformation, and research methods. PhD in Architecture from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign M.Sc. and B.Sc. (Hons) in Geography from Sun Yat-sen University, China Former roles at Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, UBC, and Brown University Research Interests include urban sociology , community housing , and public policy . Recent work analyzes housing inequality in Canada (1981–2016), state-embedded gentrification in China, and neighborhood participation dynamics. Her publications appear in top journals like Urban Studies and Environment and Behavior . Scientific Awards include multiple SSHRC grants (Partnership, Insight, Partnership Engage) and a Lincoln Institute of Land Policy fellowship. She has contributed to policy reports and participated in expert panels on urban housing, pandemic impacts, and social integration.
Shaun M. Dougherty is a Professor and Department Chair of Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics, and Assessment (MESA) at Boston College's Lynch School of Education & Human Development. He directs the Catholic Education Research Initiative and serves as a Strategic Data Project (SDP) Faculty Adviser at Harvard University's Center for Education Policy Research. His work bridges academia and policy, focusing on equity and effectiveness in career and technical education (CTE), educational accountability systems, and regression discontinuity methodologies. Dougherty holds an Ed.D. in Quantitative Policy Analysis from Harvard University. Education: Ed.D., Harvard University, Quantitative Policy Analysis Research Interests: Dougherty's research emphasizes education policy analysis , causal program evaluation , and CTE program impacts . He examines how CTE can address human capital development while addressing systemic inequities related to race, class, gender, and disability. His work integrates advanced statistical methods (e.g., regression discontinuity designs) with policy implementation studies in K-12 systems and postsecondary transitions. Grants & Awards: PI: $647,499 grant from Institute for Education Sciences (2020–2025) Co-PI: $1.7 million grant from Institute for Education Science (2022–2026) Co-PI: $250,000 grant from Institute for Education Sciences (2019–2021) His awards include the Outstanding Reviewer (2017, 2020) and Outstanding Research Paper (2020) from leading journals. Labs & Teams: Leads the MESA department's research initiatives and collaborates with the Catholic Education Research Initiative and Harvard's SDP program. His work engages with states and large districts on applied policy analysis, including Massachusetts, Michigan, and Connecticut.
Dr. David Green is a Senior Research Fellow at the School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London, leading the Aerosol Science Team within the Environmental Research Group. His research focuses on aerosol and gas measurement, source apportionment, and health impact studies. Key leadership roles include directing the Centre for Low Emission Construction and contributing to diversity initiatives. His work integrates advanced analytical techniques, such as real-time supersite monitoring in London, to inform public health policies and environmental forecasting systems. Research interests emphasize aerosol composition measurement, development of new techniques, and quantifying emission sources in urban environments. Collaborative projects span agencies like the Environment Agency, EPSRC, and EU initiatives. He supervises PhD students exploring topics such as non-road mobile machinery emissions, satellite-based traffic analysis, and subway air quality. His team’s work bridges environmental science and public health, addressing issues like ultrafine particle exposure, particulate matter on public transport, and policy-driven emission reductions. Key Collaborations: Includes STFC Air Quality Network, High Speed 2, and EU Metrology for Nitrogen Dioxide projects. Advising: Oversees five PhD students and post-doctoral fellows, focusing on environmental engineering and public health applications. Labs/Teams: Leads the Aerosol Science Team and contributes to the MRC Centre for Environment and Health.
Jennifer Johnson-Hanks serves as Professor and Executive Dean of the College of Letters & Science at the University of California, Berkeley, holding a joint appointment in the Departments of Sociology and Demography. She currently chairs the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate, demonstrating significant administrative leadership within the university structure while maintaining active scholarly contributions to demographic theory and methodology. Her educational background includes: BA in Anthropology from University of California, Berkeley MA in Anthropology from Northwestern University PhD in Anthropology from Northwestern University Johnson-Hanks' research examines the intersection of cultural anthropology and demography, with particular focus on how intentions shape family formation and fertility decisions in contexts of uncertainty. Her work integrates ethnographic evidence with demographic analysis to explore life course transitions, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where she has conducted extensive fieldwork on educated women's motherhood timing. Central to her scholarship is the critique of methodological individualism in demographic research, emphasizing how material and schematic structures influence vital events. Analysis of her 2015-2022 publications reveals persistent thematic threads: methodological innovation in measuring intentions, the social construction of statistical norms, and the cultural embeddedness of demographic behavior. Her work consistently challenges assumptions about preference stability while developing frameworks like 'conjunctural action' to integrate social theory with demographic analysis. Regional expertise in African demographic systems informs broader theoretical contributions about how uncertainty shapes life decisions across diverse contexts. While specific advising relationships and grant funding details aren't documented in available sources, Johnson-Hanks' leadership roles and theoretical contributions indicate significant institutional influence. Her directorship of the College of Letters & Science positions her at the nexus of academic administration and demographic scholarship, where she shapes both research agendas and educational infrastructure.
Hiram Beltrán-Sánchez is a Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences and Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He serves as the Associate Director of the UCLA California Center for Population Research (CCPR) and co-directs the CCPR’s T32 training grant. His research and academic leadership roles focus on advancing population studies and health demography. Dr. Beltrán-Sánchez holds a PhD and MA in Demography from the University of Pennsylvania, an MS in Mathematics from Northern Arizona University, and a BS in Actuarial Sciences from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). His research interests center on the demography of health and aging, particularly in Latin American countries. He explores biodemographic patterns of health in adults, including how early life experiences influence later health outcomes, and develops demographic and statistical methods to study mortality models and health inequities. His work integrates biomarker data from Mexico to analyze physiological health in relation to sociodemographic factors, addressing global health challenges and health equity through interdisciplinary approaches. Recent articles highlight his focus on biological age modeling, the feasibility of life extension, historical mortality trends, and the long-term effects of early life adversity. These publications span journals in demography, epidemiology, and public health, emphasizing methodological innovation and global health applications. 2018 Early Achievement Award, Population Association of America In advising and grant work, he co-founded the Latin American Mortality Database with Prof. Alberto Palloni and Dr. Guido Pinto Aguirre, a groundbreaking repository covering 19 countries since 1850. He has collaborated widely in México, Brazil, Germany, and Sweden. His career includes roles as a David E. Bell Fellow at Harvard (2011-2013) and a Postdoctoral Fellow at USC (2009-2011) before joining UCLA in 2015. He is affiliated with key research centers including the UCLA California Center for Population Research (CCPR), the USC|UCLA Center on Biodemography and Population Health, and contributes to the Latin American Mortality Database initiative.
Luis Espinosa-Anke is a Senior Lecturer at Cardiff University's School of Computer Science and Informatics. His academic journey includes working as a Natural Language Processing (NLP) scientist at Savana Médica, a Madrid-based healthcare AI company, prior to joining Cardiff. He completed his PhD at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona while working at Savana. Dr. Espinosa-Anke's research focuses on Artificial Intelligence and NLP, with particular emphasis on meaning representation, computational semantics, multilingual NLP, and computational lexicography. His work spans theoretical and applied aspects of language technology, with applications in healthcare, social media analysis, and multilingual systems. His recent publications reveal a strong trend toward analyzing language model behavior, bias detection in AI systems, and creating resources for semantic analysis. The publications show increasing focus on practical applications of NLP in healthcare, social media, and cross-lingual settings, with notable contributions to datasets like WIKITIDE and 3D-EX that support definition extraction and semantic understanding. laCaixa Fellow Fulbright scholarship recipient Erasmus Mundus program participant Dr. Espinosa-Anke has secured research funding including a Kaggle Open Research grant ($2,000 USD) as PI for the 'Don't Patronize Me!' project, a Snap Inc. grant ($10,000 USD) as CO-I for modeling meaning shift in social media, and a £90,000 Welsh Government grant for English-Welsh bilingual embeddings research. He currently supervises five PhD students working on meaning representations, contextual word embeddings, NLP for healthcare applications, and metaphor identification.
Marina Vannucci is the Noah Harding Professor of Statistics at Rice University, with an adjunct appointment at the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. She holds a Ph.D. and Laurea in Mathematics from the University of Florence, Italy. Her research focuses on Bayesian statistical methods for complex problems in genomics, neuroimaging, and engineering. She has supervised 31 Ph.D. students and 13 postdocs, published over 185 papers, and received prestigious awards including the Mitchell Prize, Zellner Medal, and Don Owen Award. She has served as Editor-in-Chief of Bayesian Analysis and co-Editor of the Journal of the American Statistical Association. Education: Ph.D. in Statistics (University of Florence, 1996), Laurea in Mathematics (University of Florence, 1992). Research Interests: Bayesian statistics, variable selection, graphical models, statistical computing, applications in genomics, neuroscience, and engineering. Awards: Includes Fellowships from ASA, IMS, AAAS, ISBA, and the 2020 Zellner Medal. Recent recognitions include the 2025 Don Owen Award for excellence in research and contributions to the statistical community. Grants/Advising: Over 30 Ph.D. students and 13 postdocs trained. Key roles include Department Chair (2014–2019) and President of the International Society for Bayesian Analysis (2018). Labs/Teams: Affiliated with Rice Neuroengineering, Ken Kennedy Institute, and the W.M. Keck Center for Interdisciplinary Bioscience Research.
Joshua Bleiberg is an Assistant Professor of Education Policy at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education, specializing in quantitative methods to assess causal effects of education policies on marginalized communities. His research focuses on standards-based reforms (e.g., NCLB, Common Core), inequality in education, quasi-experimental policy analysis, education politics, and teacher labor markets. Ph.D. in Leadership, Policy, and Organization, Vanderbilt University (Peabody College) Master’s in Education Policy and Management, Harvard University B.A. in Political Science, Vassar College Childhood Education Teacher Certification, New York His recent publications analyze state takeovers of school districts, teacher layoffs, and pandemic-era education systems. Awards include the Emerging Education Policy Scholar (Fordham Institute, 2021) and Education Policy Academy Fellow (2018). Bleiberg also engages in professional service roles at the Annenberg Institute and Vanderbilt University.
Shoshanna Fine, PhD, is an Assistant Research Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Department of Mental Health. Her work focuses on mental health and psychosocial development among marginalized and culturally diverse populations globally, particularly adolescents in adversity. She leads the Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS), investigating gender socialization impacts in low-resource urban environments across five continents. Education: PhD in Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (2020) MPH in Public Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (2016) AB in Liberal Arts, Harvard College (2010) Research Interests: Mental health in conflict/displacement settings Violence and substance use interrelationships Culturally appropriate interventions in low-resource contexts Gender socialization's impact on adolescent health Awards: 2021 Charles E. Irwin New Investigator Award 2020 Alberta B. Szalita Award Multiple fellowships including Harvard's Center for Public Interest Careers (2010) Key Projects: GEAS, UNHCR mental health tracking, Burundian refugee adolescent interventions, and multi-country studies on emotional/behavioral problems. Active in Thailand, Indonesia, Kenya, Zambia, and Papua New Guinea.
Echu Liu is a Professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy at the College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University. He also serves as the Director of the Ph.D. in Public Health Studies program, contributing significantly to academic leadership and public health education. Education: Ph.D. in Economics, University of Southern California, 2006 M.B.A. in Finance, California State University, Los Angeles, 2000 M.A. in Economics, National Taiwan University/University of Southern California, 1995/2003 B.A. in Economics, National Taiwan University, 1994 Dr. Liu's research focuses on health policy, health economics, data analytics, and health insurance literacy . His work examines how socioeconomic factors, health literacy, and insurance understanding influence healthcare access, financial burden, and health outcomes across diverse populations, including international students, older adults, and racial minorities. His interdisciplinary approach integrates economics, public health, and biostatistics to inform policy and improve health equity. His recent publications (2009–2025) reflect a consistent trajectory in health economics and policy analysis , with a strong emphasis on health insurance literacy, medical debt, pandemic behavior, and global health disparities . The studies employ rigorous econometric and statistical methods, often using large national surveys from the U.S., China, and India. Key themes include the impact of policy interventions, socioeconomic determinants of health, and behavioral responses to healthcare systems. Professional Service: Associate Editor, Health Economics Section, Frontiers in Public Health Dr. Liu teaches Biostatistics, Health Care Economics, and Healthcare Financial Management , equipping students with analytical and financial tools for public health leadership. While specific advisees are not listed, his role as Ph.D. program director and frequent collaboration with researchers suggests active mentorship. His research has been supported by institutional and likely external funding, though specific grants are not detailed. He maintains an active scholarly presence through high-impact journal publications and editorial contributions. Laboratory and Research Teams: While no formal lab is mentioned, Dr. Liu leads and collaborates with interdisciplinary research teams focused on health policy analysis, data-driven public health, and socioeconomic determinants of health. His work often involves partnerships with public health scholars, economists, and data scientists.
William Doyle is Professor of Public Policy and Higher Education and Department Chair in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at Peabody College, Vanderbilt University. His work focuses on the intersection of public policy and higher education systems, particularly at the state level. Research Interests: His primary research areas include college access and completion, community colleges, financial aid, and state and federal education policy. He investigates how geographic variation in higher education opportunity affects civic and economic outcomes, and analyzes the volatility of public funding for higher education across states. Recent Research Trends: His recent publications reveal a strong focus on quantifying the civic and economic returns to higher education, modeling state funding patterns, and assessing college affordability. His work combines policy analysis with advanced statistical methods, including propensity scoring and geographic modeling. Scientific Reports: Throwing Out the “Recession Playbook” for Higher Education: The Need for Joint Federal-State Policy in the Wake of COVID-19 Strategies for Postsecondary Students in Developmental Education–A Practice Guide College Affordability Diagnosis Mapping College Affordability Advising and Grants: While specific students and grants are not listed, his leadership role as department chair and active publication record suggest significant involvement in mentoring graduate students and securing research funding. His collaborations with scholars like Delaney, Skinner, and Zumeta indicate strong research team engagement. Labs and Research Teams: Although no formal lab is mentioned, his research is conducted within the context of higher education policy analysis at Peabody College, likely involving collaborative projects with policy institutes and state-level data initiatives.
Benjamin Clarsen is an Associate Professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in the Department of Sports Medicine and also holds a position as Associate Professor at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in the Department of Disease Burden. His work bridges sports medicine and public health, focusing on injury and illness surveillance in elite and amateur athletes. His research interests include: Sports injury epidemiology Overuse injuries and health problems in athletes Methodology in sports injury research Load management and injury risk Health monitoring in Olympic and Paralympic athletes Public health survey methodology Clarsen's recent publications (2024–2025) reveal a strong focus on large-scale epidemiological studies in football (men's and women's), golf, and Olympic sports. He is involved in FIFA and IOC consensus initiatives, contributing to standardized methods for injury recording. His work emphasizes not just injury incidence but also the burden of health problems, including mental health and illness. He frequently employs prospective cohort designs and systematic reviews, often in collaboration with international experts. He has contributed to influential consensus statements, including those by the International Olympic Committee on injury and illness surveillance. His methodological rigor is evident in papers addressing missing data, survey response bias, and standardized reporting frameworks like STROBE-SIIS. As a researcher and academic, Clarsen plays a key role in developing health monitoring programs for Norwegian elite athletes and refining epidemiological methods in sports medicine. He collaborates extensively with institutions and researchers across Europe and globally, particularly in football and Olympic sports medicine.
Tanja Blascheck is a PostDoc Researcher and Margarete von Wrangell Fellow at the Institute for Visualization and Interactive Systems (VIS) at the University of Stuttgart. Her work focuses on visual analytics , eye tracking , and microvisualizations for smartwatches and other wearable devices.
Melissa Clark is a Professor at Coastal Carolina University's E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration, specializing in the Department of Marketing and Hospitality, Resort and Tourism Management. Her career spans roles as Professor, Associate Professor, and Assistant Professor at Coastal Carolina University and the University of North Alabama, alongside her Graduate Teaching Assistantship at the University of Mississippi. Education: Ph.D. in Business Administration (Marketing) from the University of Mississippi MBA from the University of North Alabama Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of North Alabama Dr. Clark's research focuses on Business Sustainability, Marketing, and Hospitality/Tourism Management , with a strong emphasis on integrating Environmental Sustainability and Relationship Marketing into sector-specific practices. Her work bridges Consumer Behavior and Social Media Marketing , analyzing trends in sustainable tourism, green energy adoption, and digital engagement. The 15 most recent articles highlight her exploration of topics such as Green Energy Purchase Intentions , Social Media's Role in Tourism Promotion , and Pharmaceutical Market Segmentation , reflecting a multidisciplinary approach to sustainable business practices. Teaching Interests: Business Sustainability, Principles of Marketing, and Sustainability and Social Responsibility.
Donna Moore is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia, part of Augusta University. She is actively engaged in pediatric research, medical education, and clinical service, with a strong focus on childhood obesity prevention, cardiovascular risk factors, and health equity. Research Interests: Dr. Moore's research emphasizes environmental and community-based interventions to combat childhood obesity, particularly through school programs like the FitKid Project. Her work investigates physical activity, nutrition, body composition, and disparities related to ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status in pediatric populations. Publication Trends: Her recent scholarly output centers on preventive pediatrics and public health, with studies published between 2002 and 2005 analyzing obesity, adiposity, and cardiovascular risks in rural and at-risk youth. These works reflect a consistent theme of early-life intervention and population health strategies. Exemplary Teaching Award for Excellence in Teaching in Graduate Medical Education (2020) Exemplary Teaching Award for Undergraduate Medical Education (2020) Teacher of the Year, Department of Pediatrics (2015) Exemplary Teaching Award for Medical Student Education (2012) Exemplary Teaching Award for Medical Resident Education (2011) Advising and Service: While no formal students are listed, Dr. Moore plays a significant role in medical education through committee leadership, residency training, and curriculum development. She has chaired the Student Promotions Committee, served on the Liaison Committee on Medical Education site visit, and contributed to admissions. Her service extends to university-wide initiatives including depression screening, patient-centered care models, and data safety monitoring for asthma and tobacco control trials. Labs and Teams: Dr. Moore has been integral to the Medical College of Georgia FitKid Project, a multidisciplinary team focused on pediatric obesity intervention. She also contributes to the Pediatric Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and the Pediatric Ambulatory Quality and Safety Council, reflecting her commitment to systemic improvements in child health care.
