Initiative in Social Genomics Update

In February 2018, the University of Wisconsin-Madison began recruiting three tenure-track faculty for a Cluster Hire in Social Genomics. CDHA Director Jason Fletcher (sociology/public affairs/public health sciences) and CDHA affiliates Corinne Engelman (population health sciences), James Li (psychology), and Qiongshi Lu (biostatistics and medical informatics) submitted the successful proposal for the Cluster Hire with the intention of securing UW-Madison’s future as the home of the world-class group of researchers of Social Genomics.

This fall, Lauren Schmitz joined the La Follette School of Public Affairs as the first hire of this cluster. Dr. Schmitz is an assistant professor who received her PhD from the New School for Social Research and her MS in Human Genetics from the University of Michigan. She was most recently a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for Social Research, also at the University of Michigan.

Recruitment is ongoing for the two remaining positions in the cluster hire.