Emily Hannum is a Professor of Sociology and Education at the University of Pennsylvania's College of Arts & Sciences, where she also serves as Associate Dean for Social Sciences. She is affiliated with the Population Studies Center, Center for the Study of Contemporary China, Graduate School of Education, and Penn Development Research Initiative. Education: PhD in Sociology from University of Michigan (1998) Research Focus: Poverty and child welfare, gender and ethnic stratification, sociology of education Projects: Gansu Survey of Children and Families, climate-environment-childhood inequalities in LMICs Workshops: Co-organizer of Penn Education and Inequality Workshop Her research explores childhood poverty in China, demographic impacts on education systems, and climate risks affecting children's welfare. She investigates environmental hazards, educational disparities, and family separation effects across China, India, and low/middle-income countries. Recent publications analyze educational expansion in East Asia, climate crisis impacts on child health, and gender disparities in Latin America. She directs longitudinal studies on rural poverty and collaborates on cross-national projects related to environmental and educational equity. Scientific awards include the Stanley I. Sheerr Term Professorship in Social Sciences.
Dr Peninah Murage is an Assistant Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in the Department of Public Health, Environments and Society under the Faculty of Public Health and Policy. She specializes in environmental epidemiology with a PhD in Health Geography and focuses on health impacts of environmental changes, particularly climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Affiliation: Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health Her research explores climate change effects on health outcomes like heat-related mortality, cardiovascular diseases, and cognitive development in children. She integrates GIS/spatial analysis with public health and policy frameworks to identify nature-based solutions for sustainable development. Current work examines systemic inequalities in heat risk exposure and interventions such as tree-based strategies in low-income settings. Key grants include: Health Protection Research Unit on Climate Change and Health Security (2025-2030, NIHR) Climate Change and Non-Communicable Diseases in Senegal (2024-2027) Pathfinder 2: Accelerating Climate Action for Health (2023-2026) She actively contributes to the Lancet Pathfinder Commission and serves on the Executive Committee of the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology (African Chapter).
Junfu Zhang is a Professor of Economics and Department Chair at Clark University. His research focuses on applied microeconomics, particularly urban and regional economics, with an emphasis on urbanization in China, entrepreneurship, regional development, and racial housing segregation. He holds a B.A. from Renmin University of China (1993), and M.A. and Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University (1999, 2001). Prior to joining Clark in 2006, he was a research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California and a Brookings Institution fellow (2000–2001). He has been an IZA Research Fellow since 2007 and served as President of the Chinese Economists Society (2019–2020). Education: B.A., International Economics, Renmin University of China, 1993 M.A., Economics, Clark University, 1997 M.A., Economics, Johns Hopkins University, 1999 Ph.D., Economics, Johns Hopkins University, 2001 Research Interests: Dr. Zhang's research explores urbanization dynamics in China, including land use policies, housing tenure systems, and economic segregation. His work also addresses entrepreneurship, high-tech industrial clusters, and the economic impacts of urbanization. Recent studies include analyses of land regulation, Super Bowl economic effects, and gender competition in labor markets. Recent Research Trends: His articles reflect a focus on China's socio-economic challenges, such as urban land policies, housing wealth effects, and regional development disparities. Collaborative projects with institutions like IZA and CES highlight interdisciplinary engagement. Awards and Affiliations: IZA Research Fellow (2007–present) Former President, Chinese Economists Society (2019–2020) Advising and Grants: No specific grant or student advising details are listed, though his research often involves collaborative teams. His work is supported by institutional affiliations and academic networks. Labs and Teams: No dedicated labs are mentioned, but his research engages interdisciplinary teams focusing on urban economics and regional policy.
Dr. Elaine T. Jurkowski serves as Professor in Social Work at Southern Illinois University's College of Health and Human Sciences, holding multiple leadership roles including Graduate Program Director (2021-present) and Program Director for Gerontology Programs (2020-present). She maintains cross-appointments as Adjunct Professor in the School of Medicine's Family Practice Residency Program and Professor in the Department of Health Education, demonstrating her interdisciplinary impact. B.S.W. (Industrial Social Work), University of Manitoba, Canada M.S.W. (Policy and Administration), University of Manitoba, Canada Ph.D., Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago M.B.A., Southern Illinois University Carbondale (2022) Dr. Jurkowski's research program centers on health disparities, access to mental health services, aging, and disability issues, with particular focus on rural populations. Her work bridges public health, social work, and gerontology through innovative approaches to program evaluation, technology-enhanced teaching, and culture change in long-term care settings. She has developed expertise in international health planning and inter-professional collaboration across diverse cultural contexts. Her publication portfolio shows consistent thematic development across decades, with recent work focusing on medical tourism during the pandemic, rural-urban health disparities, and technology applications in gerontology education. These publications reflect her commitment to addressing healthcare access challenges for vulnerable populations through both scholarly inquiry and practical interventions. Great Cities Research Fellow in Health Provost Faculty Fellow (2018) Provost Assessment Fellow (2016) Student Hotspotting certification (2018-present) A.P.M. Assessment Academy certification (2016, 2017) Dr. Jurkowski has successfully secured over $1 million in research funding from agencies including Health Resources and Services Administration, The Hartford Foundation, and Administration on Aging. Her grant portfolio demonstrates sustained commitment to improving services for older adults and people with disabilities, particularly in rural settings. She has served as Graduate Program Director twice (2003-2014, 2021-present), mentoring numerous social work students through their academic and professional development. Her professional activities extend beyond campus through international consulting in West Africa, Hong Kong, India, China, Russia, and Egypt, and community engagement via the "Dare to Care" radio show and board service with Caring Counseling Ministries, Supporting People in Need, and UNA/USA Southern Illinois Chapter.
Jean C. Oi serves as the William Haas Professor of Chinese Politics in Stanford University's Department of Political Science and holds multiple leadership positions including Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Director of the China Program, and Lee Shau Kee Director of the Stanford Center at Peking University. Professor Oi earned her PhD from the University of Michigan and previously taught at Lehigh University and Harvard University before joining Stanford in 1997. Her research centers on comparative politics with specialized expertise in Chinese political economy and reform processes in transitional systems. She has made seminal contributions to understanding rural politics in China, introducing the influential concept of 'local state corporatism' to describe China's development model in her award-winning book Rural China Takes Off (1999). Her current research examines China's Belt and Road Initiative, fiscal politics and central-local relations, and structural change in China. Professor Oi maintains an active publication record with works spanning four decades, including her most recent 2025 article 'A Perfect Storm: Fiscal Discipline, COVID, and Local Government Debt in China' which analyzes how pandemic-era policies exposed China's fiscal vulnerabilities. Choice Outstanding Academic Title (1999) for Rural China Takes Off Professor Oi leads significant collaborative research initiatives, including directing the Stanford China Program at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center. Her fieldwork with Chinese scholars has examined rural community organization, public goods provision, and fiscal pressures from rapid urbanization, culminating in works like Challenges in the Process of China's Urbanization (2017).
Ram Cnaan is a Professor of Social Work and Associate Dean for Research at the University of Pennsylvania, affiliated with The Weitzman School of Design. He chairs the Doctoral Program in Social Welfare and directs the Program for Religion and Social Policy Research. His work focuses on faith-based social services, congregational welfare provision, and nonprofit management. Cnaan has authored influential books like The Invisible Caring Hand and serves on seven academic journal editorial boards. His research explores volunteerism dynamics, including pandemic impacts on donor retention, cross-national civic participation, and episodic volunteering at religious events. He investigates social entrepreneurship in public sectors and evaluates faith-based organizations' roles in reentry programs for ex-prisoners. Cnaan's recent studies address CSR innovations, donor-advised funds strategies, and prosocial behavior in diverse cultural contexts. Notable contributions include pioneering national studies on congregational social service provision and analyzing Israeli-Palestinian Muslim collaboration in aid work. His work bridges academic research with practical policy solutions for urban quality-of-life challenges.
Brad D. Jokisch is a Professor and Undergraduate Chair in the Department of Geography at Ohio University’s College of Arts and Sciences. He is affiliated with International Studies and Latin American Studies, and his research focuses on population, environment, and development, particularly in Latin America. His work explores transnational migration, land-use change, and livelihoods in the Ecuadoran Andes. Education: Ph.D., Clark University, 1998 B.A., Augustana College, 1989 His research interests lie at the intersection of cultural/political ecology, population dynamics, agriculture, and development. He investigates how migration influences environmental change and how development shapes population movements, with a regional focus on Latin America. His fieldwork in the Ecuadoran Andes examines the impact of remittances and emigration on landscapes and rural communities. Recent publications highlight trends in transnational migration, land-use change, and development policy. His work spans interdisciplinary journals in geography, anthropology, and development studies, reflecting a strong emphasis on human-environment systems and migration. Key themes include remittances, land cover change, indigenous urbanization, and migration policy in South America. Scientific Awards: Fulbright Scholarship (2023–2024) for research on family emigration in southern Ecuador Dr. Jokisch advises undergraduate students as chair and teaches core courses such as Population Geography, Geography of Latin America, and Agricultural Ecosystems. While specific grant details and advisees are not listed, his sustained research output and leadership in the department suggest active mentorship and scholarly engagement. He is currently conducting research in Ecuador under a Fulbright award, indicating ongoing international collaboration and field-based inquiry. He is a key contributor to human-environment geography and migration studies, with a long-standing commitment to theoretical and empirical research in Latin America.
Clio Andris is an Associate Professor at Georgia Tech, jointly appointed in the School of City and Regional Planning and the School of Interactive Computing. She directs the Friendly Cities Lab, focusing on mathematical models of social networks applied to urban planning, transportation, and geography. Her work integrates spatial analysis with visualization, emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration. Education and Career: Andris earned a PhD in Urban Information Systems from MIT (2011), where she was an NDSEG Fellow. She held postdoctoral positions at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology and the Santa Fe Institute. Prior to Georgia Tech, she was a faculty member at Penn State’s Department of Geography, affiliated with the GeoVISTA Center. Research Focus: Her research bridges social networks, geovisualization, and urban informatics. Key areas include spatial social network analysis, GIS applications for urban policy, and the impact of digital tools on civic engagement. She has developed innovative visual analytics tools like SNoMaN and ROBIN to democratize spatial data exploration. Awards: She received the NSF CAREER Award (2021) and NDSEG Fellowship (2011). Her lab is affiliated with the Center for Spatial Planning Analytics and Visualization (CSPAV) and the Information Visualization Lab. Labs and Collaborations: The Friendly Cities Lab focuses on socially just urban design through computational methods. Her work addresses issues like food security networks, pandemic impacts on biodiversity, and community mapping for activism. Grants and Outreach: Her NSF-funded projects emphasize public good applications, such as real-time pandemic risk communication and educational tools for migration data. She actively collaborates with non-profits and policymakers to translate research into actionable urban strategies.
Christopher L. Foote is a Principal Economist and Policy Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, where he has worked since 2003. He also holds the title of Professor in the Department of Economics at Harvard University since 2012. Foote earned his BA from the College of William and Mary in 1987 and a PhD in economics from the University of Michigan in 1996. His academic career includes teaching positions at Harvard University (1996–2002) and visiting roles at MIT (2004–2006). His research focuses on labor economics, housing, and macroeconomics. Key areas include labor market polarization, mortgage debt patterns, housing market dynamics, geographic disparities in mortality, and economic impacts of population aging. His work frequently addresses policy implications for financial and labor market stability. Measuring employment through online panels Geographic mortality disparities Mortgage debt and foreclosure analysis Population aging effects Historical labor market discrimination Business cycle modeling Foote has received prestigious awards including the Regents Fellowship, Rackham Pre-doctoral Fellowship, and Alfred P. Sloan Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. He has also served as Associate Editor and editorial board member for major economic journals. His work spans academic publications in top journals, book chapters, and numerous working papers that analyze economic trends and policy responses. Foote's contributions cover housing economics, labor market dynamics, and macroeconomic policy, with a focus on empirical analysis and real-world applications.
Ashli Owen-Smith is a behavioral scientist affiliated with the School of Public Health at Georgia State University , where her research focuses on mental health disparities, suicide prevention, and integrative/complementary approaches for complex mental-physical health conditions. She works with underserved populations including refugees/immigrants, incarcerated individuals, and LGBTQ+ communities through community-based participatory research and mixed-methods frameworks. Her current projects are funded by CDC , DBHDD , and DPH . Education: Ph.D. in Behavioral Sciences (Emory, 2009), S.M. in Public Health (Harvard, 2005), B.A. in Psychology (Smith College, 2001) Her research spans mental health , trauma , suicide prevention , and mindfulness-based interventions . Recent work examines telehealth adaptations for chronic pain and mental health, vaccine hesitancy in refugee communities, and social determinants of suicide . She leads studies on gender-affirming care and health disparities in LGBTQ+ populations. Key article trends include epidemiological analysis of suicide risk factors, COVID-19 impacts on mental health, ICD-10 coding for autism, and complementary medicine in trauma recovery. Subfields span telehealth , health equity , mental-physical comorbidity , and community engagement . Students she has mentored include C.A. Scarlett , T. Griner , and M.M. Sesay . Her work integrates public health policy , clinical research , and health systems analysis .
Pierre-Philippe Combes is a CNRS Research Professor and Head of Doctoral Studies in Economics at Sciences Po since 2021. He also serves as Co-Editor of the Journal of Urban Economics and Director of Graduate Programs in Economics at Sciences Po. Previously, he held positions at Aix-Marseille University (2003-2016), Boston University (2001-2003), and CERAS-École des Ponts et Chaussées (1998-2001). He holds a PhD in Economics from CREST (Paris School of Economics). Education PhD in Economics, Paris School of Economics (CREST), 1996 Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches (HDR), Aix-Marseille University, 2004 Research Interests : Urban economics and economic geography, focusing on local labor markets, housing markets, firm and household location choices, and resulting spatial disparities. His work uses machine learning for historical data recovery and examines agglomeration economies, migration externalities, and discrimination in urban contexts. Scientific Output Trends : Recent publications analyze urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa, agglomeration economies, real income inequality in China, and historical land use through machine learning. Collaborative work spans France, China, and international institutions, addressing housing costs, peer effects in research, and urban poverty metrics. Scientific Awards : NATO Advanced Fellowship Grant (2001-2002) PhD Thesis Award - Association Française de Science Économique (AFSE) PhD Thesis Award - Association de Science Régionale de Langue Française (ASRDLF) Mention très honorable avec félicitations du jury (PhD thesis) Teaching & Editorial Roles : Teaches urban economics at Sciences Po and ENS Lyon. Serves on editorial boards of the Journal of Economic Geography , Regional Science and Urban Economics , and Journal of Urban Economics . Participates in evaluation committees for PhDs and habilitations across Europe. Policy Contributions : Advises on urban poverty measurement for the World Bank and contributes to French regional policy reports, including the Grand Paris Express project and CNIS (National Statistical Council).
Brent W. Roberts is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois , affiliated with the Social-Personality-Organizational Division. He serves as Chair of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Initiative and holds the Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professorship. Education: Ph.D. in Personality Psychology (1994), University of California, Berkeley Research focuses on personality development across adulthood, personality assessment (especially conscientiousness ), and personality-health relationships . Methodologically, he emphasizes IRT and contextualized assessments. Scientific contributions include: Over 235 research outputs Highly Cited Researcher (Thomson Reuters 2016-2017) Key publications on BESSI, CONIC model, and longitudinal personality analysis Award-winning scholar: J. S. Tanaka Dissertation Award (1995) Carol & Ed Diener Mid-Career Award Theodore Millon Mid-Career Award Henry Murray Award Honorary Doctorate, University of Basel As academic advisor, he has mentored numerous graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in personality psychology, with lab alumni now at institutions like University of Houston and Carleton University.
Dean B. Carson is a researcher at Umeå University , affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Global Health , and the Arctic Research Centre . His work focuses on rural health systems, social care workforce challenges, sustainable rural development, and community-based approaches to healthcare and food security. Rural Health : Explores capacity-building in rural health research and medical education reform. Public Health : Analyzes service delivery models and co-creation frameworks for elderly care. Geography : Investigates spatial dynamics in northern peripheries, including food production networks and micro-urbanization. Recent publications (2024-2025) examine topics such as rural health research capacity frameworks , hospital-to-home transfer systems , and non-commercial food distribution networks . His studies often integrate theoretical models like Rural Nursing Theory and Beyond Periphery while emphasizing stakeholder engagement and policy translation. Grants and Collaborations : Funded by the Swedish Research Council Formas, American National Science Foundation (NSF), and Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. Collaborates with Arctic-FROST networks and Lifestyle Migration Hub researchers.
Dr. Sarah F. Anzia is the Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, with a joint affiliation at the Goldman School of Public Policy. She is also a Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center and a Senior Fellow (adjunct) at the Hoover Institution. Her research bridges American politics, public policy, and subnational governance. Her work focuses on state and local government election timing and voter turnout interest group influence public-sector labor dynamics gender in electoral politics pension policy The 15 most recent publications highlight her expertise in historical labor movements policy feedback theory local taxation public-sector pension economics gender dynamics in electoral outcomes subnational institutional analysis Her studies often employ quantitative datasets spanning multiple decades of local government financial records and electoral patterns. Scientific recognition includes National Research Data Access via Goldman School working papers Senior Fellowships at Niskanen Center and Hoover Institution Endowed Chancellor's Professorship at UC Berkeley Key research contributions examine the interplay between business groups and labor unions in local governance structural determinants of senior citizen policy influence pension fund governance mechanisms historical development of local electoral institutions She received her PhD in political science from Stanford University and holds an MPP from the Harris School at the University of Chicago.
Weiping Wu is Professor and Director of the M.S. in Urban Planning program at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. She previously chaired the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy at Tufts University and currently serves as Columbia's Vice Provost for Academic Programs. Her research examines urban dynamics in developing countries with expertise in Chinese urbanization, migration, housing, and infrastructure. Publications analyze urbanization patterns, infrastructure financing, and socioeconomic transitions in Chinese cities, emphasizing how these conform to and challenge conventional urban theories. Recent books explore urbanization impacts on environmental resources, demographic changes, and sustainability challenges. Leadership roles include chairing the Planning Accreditation Board and serving on advisory panels for the Hong Kong Research Grants Council and Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize. She previously served as President of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning.
