Marcelo Cunha Medeiros

Marcelo Cunha Medeiros is a Professor of Economics and Finance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, holding the Jorge Paulo Lemann Endowed Chair. He serves as Assistant Head for Faculty Development in the Department of Economics. His research focuses on econometrics, data science, and the integration of machine learning with statistical theory, applied to finance, macroeconomics, forecasting, and public policy evaluation.

Marcelo holds BA, MSc., and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from PUC-Rio, with specialization in Statistics, Optimization, and Control Theory. He has authored over 50 peer-reviewed articles in top journals like the Journal of the American Statistical Association and Journal of Econometrics.

His work bridges theoretical advancements with practical applications, including forecasting methodologies, counterfactual analysis, and functional data modeling for public health crises like the 2020 pandemic. He is an elected Fellow of the Society of Financial Econometrics (2022) and serves on editorial boards for the Journal of the American Statistical Association and Journal of Financial Econometrics.

Marcelo collaborates on interdisciplinary projects through the Lemann Center for Brazilian Studies and contributes to collaborative research initiatives with FAPESP. His academic roles include leadership in faculty development and cross-departmental research coordination.