Name: Sarah S. Salas Title: PhD Candidate Hometown: Houston, TX Educational background: BSA Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin Sarah’s journey into population sciences began as an undergraduate research assistant collecting survey and biospecimen data on Mexican-origin adolescents. “It was my first exposure to how research could take every day experiences and make them observable …
We are currently inviting applications for an NIH/NIA-funded postdoctoral traineeship beginning in summer or fall 2026! This position offers advanced training in the demography of aging and the life course, providing an exceptional environment for independent research, collaboration with CDHA faculty mentors, and engagement with leading longitudinal studies such as the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), …
Name: Yue Qin, Ph.D. candidate in Sociology Hometown: Shandong, China Educational background: B.A. in Sociology, Sun Yat-sen University (Guangzhou, China); M.A. in Sociology, Boston College How did you first connect to your field of research? I found my research interests in aging and health when working as a research assistant in a Chinese think tank, …
Name: Michael Topping, Graduate Student in Sociology Hometown: Burlington, Wisconsin Educational Background: B.S. in Social Work & B.A. in Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point; M.A. in Sociology, University of Memphis 1. How did you first connect to your field of research? Looking back, I grew curious about health, aging, and the life course through much of the …
Name: Jiaxin Shi, Postdoctoral Researcher Hometown: Zhejiang, China Educational Background: BA Journalism, Beijing Foreign Studies University; MPhil Social Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; European Doctoral School of Demography; PhD Sociology, University of Oxford in collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research 1. How did you first connect to your …
Name: Gina Lee, Postdoctoral Researcher Hometown: Born in Austin, TX but grew up in South Korea Educational Background: BS in Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS), Iowa State; MS in Gerontology, Iowa State; PhD in HDFS, Iowa State 1. How did you first connect to your field of research? I wasn’t planning on pursuing Gerontology/HDFS …
Name: Somalis Chy, PhD candidate in Consumer Behavior & Family Economics Hometown: Phnom Penh, Cambodia Educational Background: B.A. in Economics from Cambodia in 2016 & M.A. from a consortium of European universities in Economics of Globalization and European Integration in 2018 How did you first connect to your field of research? There are both personal and academic reasons …
CDHA welcomes two new CDHA T32 Trainees Erin Nelson-Bakkum (PHS) and Sabrina Sanchez (Sociology), along with our two returning trainees Lauren Giurini (PHS) and Sarah Salas (Sociology)! “My planned dissertation research focuses on the aging population of Wisconsin and how they access hearing health care services. I am looking forward to working with Michal Engelman …
Name/Title: Grace Venechuk, PhD student in the Department of Sociology Hometown: Boulder, Colorado Educational Background: Bachelor’s in Music from Berklee; MA in Soc from UC-Denver What are your research interests and current research projects? Broadly, my research interests are health disparities, the life course and work quality. That’s fairly wide-ranging, though, so my current …
Leafia Ye Ye will begin as an Assistant Professor at University of Toronto in Fall 2023. What are your research interests and current research projects? Right now, I am working on a few different things. I have a project, which was funded through the Retirement and Disability Graduate Research Fellowship Award, where I look at …