PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] – Coming from a variety of disciplines and with wide-ranging research interests, four junior faculty members have recently joined the PSTC community as faculty associates. “We are pleased to welcome our newest colleagues to the PSTC community,” said Center Director Susan Short. “Engaging diverse methodological approaches and promoting a population science of consequence, their work contributes to new understandings of disparities in health and well-being in the U.S. and around the world.”

The Center’s interdisciplinary approach holds great appeal for some of the new associates, including Kevin Escudero, an assistant professor of American studies and ethnic studies. “I was drawn to joining the PSTC after having first become involved in the Center's activities through co-organizing the Interdisciplinary Migration Working Group with Zhenchao Qian, Andrea Flores, and Nicole Kreisberg,” he said. “I found the interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary conversation that the Center offered to be a highly welcoming and productive space for my own research.”

Escudero’s research interests include immigration and refugee studies; comparative racial and ethnic studies; social movements; law and society; and critical human geography. His current book manuscript, Organizing While Undocumented examines undocumented Asian, Latinx, queer, and formerly undocumented activists' strategic use of an intersectional movement identity.

The PSTC’s new associate director of Spatial Structures in the Social Sciences (S4) is Kevin Mwenda, an assistant professor of population studies (research). He focuses his research on changing spatial patterns of health outcomes such as infectious disease and undernutrition among vulnerable populations around the world, and how these patterns are influenced by various environmental, climatic, and socioeconomic factors.

Emily Rauscher, an assistant professor of sociology, was drawn by the Center’s staff support and the variety of disciplines represented in the PSTC community. “The opportunity to receive feedback on work in progress from an interdisciplinary audience and assistance with grant proposals are valuable,” she said.

Rauscher’s research seeks to better understand intergenerational inequality with a focus on education and health. She uses quantitative methods and causal inference techniques to investigate these areas and to identify policies that could increase equality of opportunity.

“I wanted to become a member of the PSTC because I had been told about the computing and infrastructure support, and those resources are extremely valuable, as well as the weekly seminars and the support offered in terms of grant writing,” said Neil Thakral, an assistant professor of economics. His research interests include applied microeconomics, behavioral economics, labor economics, and market design.