Saras Chung

Saras Chung is a Research Associate Professor at the Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) Brown School of Social Work. With a PhD and master’s in social work from WashU and a bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she specializes in applying system dynamics to address adolescent well-being and educational equity in under-resourced communities.

• Education
  • PhD and Master’s in Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis
  • Bachelor of Science in Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Her research focuses on anticipating policy side effects through community-based systems research, with three core agendas: (1) Adolescent well-being and academic growth via teacher-driven systemic redesign, (2) Community-Based System Dynamics to enhance service delivery in schools and communities, and (3) Child and adolescent social-emotional development in educational settings. She collaborates with public schools, nonprofits, and government agencies like the CDC and Google.

Chung has advised over $30 million in community investments through philanthropic partnerships and served as Executive Director of SKIP, a youth development organization. Her work bridges academic research with practical interventions for systemic change.