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You are here: www.cpc.unc.edu → Training → Predoctoral Program → Predoctoral Trainees

Predoctoral Trainees


Daniel Auguste Email: auguste.daniel@gmail.com Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101C CPC South
Research focus: Economic development; educational inequality; and neighborhood effects and life outcomes CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Ted Mouw, Sociology

Olga Belskaya Email: belskaya@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Economics	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101A CPC South
Research focus: Labor and health economics; economic development including reforms and quality of higher education in developing countries; health reforms; female-male wage gap in developing countries CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Klara Peter, Economics

Courtney Boen, M.P.H. Email: courtney.boen@gmail.com Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101G CPC South
Research focus: Racial health disparities across the life course; social determinants of health; racial wealth inequality; and socioeconomic mobility CPC Faculty Preceptors: Drs. Anthony Perez and Yang Yang, Sociology

Maia Call Email: mcall@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Geography	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101B CPC South
Research focus: Spatial demography; childhood poverty; and population-environment interactions CPC Faculty Preceptors: Drs. Clark Gray, Geography and Paul Voss, Sociology

Susan Caplow Email: scaplow@email.unc.edu Ph.D. Candidate, Ecology Dissertation proposal successfully defended, November 2012	Phone: (919) 843-4695 104 CPC South
Research focus: Population-environment interactions in East Africa CPC Faculty Preceptors: Drs. Pam Jagger, Public Policy and Paul Leslie, Anthropology

Brittany Glarrow Chamberlain Email: bglarrow@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Anthropology	Phone: (919)843-4695 530 CPC East
Research focus: Biocultural perspective on maternal decision making and childhood obesity; obesigenic environments; and social, environmental, and physiological interactions CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Amanda Thompson, Anthropology

Raquel Zanatta Coutinho, M.A. Email: raquelzc@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 104 CPC South
Research focus: Second demographic transition; transition into adulthood; marriage and cohabitation; family and household formation; reproductive intention and outcome; and religion. CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Lisa Pearce, Sociology

Heather Edelblute, M.P.H. Email: edelblut@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 966-6178 527 CPC East
Research focus: Migration and health, social support for mothers in transnational families, impacts of migration on origin communities, gendered aspects of social networks, neighborhoods and health CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Ted Mouw, Sociology

Kim Engie Email: kengie@email.unc.edu Ph.D. Candidate, Geography Dissertation proposal successfully defended, October 2011	Phone: (919) 843-4695 104 CPC South
Research focus: Population-environment interactions, resilience, and natural resource management in the Galapagos Islands CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Stephen Walsh, Geography

Paul Fleming Curriculum Vitae Email: pjflemin@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Health Behavior	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101I CPC South
Research focus: Formation of societal gender norms and their impact on health behaviors; male peer group influence on men's relationship and sexual behaviors; strategies for male engagement in HIV/AIDS/STI and reproductive health programming; influence of poverty and marginalization on violence and sexual behaviors CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Clare Barrington, Health Behavior

Brian Foster Email: bruceofoster@gmail.com Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101K CPC South
Research focus: Adolescent belief formation and educational inequality; new perspectives on the relationship between Hip-Hop culture and educational outcomes CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Anthony Perez, Sociology


Jill Furgurson Email: jmfurgurson@unc.edu Graduate Student, Geography	Phone: (919) 843-4695 301 CPC South
Research focus: Human-environment interactions as related to patterns of infectious disease CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Michael Emch, Geography


Anisha Gandhi, M.P.H. Email: anishadgandhi@gmail.com Ph.D. Candidate, Epidemiology Dissertation proposal successfully defended, December 2011	Phone: (919) 843-4695 106 CPC South
Research focus: Social and structural determinants of reproductive health in international contexts. CPC Faculty Preceptors: Drs. Clare Barrington, HBHE, and Sharon Weir, Epidemiology

Karen Gerken Email: kgerken@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101J CPC South
Research focus: Neighborhood context; stratification, race and ethnicity, and adolescent health CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Kathleen Mullan Harris, Sociology

Sophia Giebultowicz, M.A. Email: sgiebult@email.unc.edu Ph.D. Candidate, Geography Dissertation proposal successfully defended, November 2011	Phone: (919) 843-4695 304 CPC South
Research focus: Population-environment interactions in rural Bangladesh CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Michael Emch, Geography

Shoshana Goldberg Email: skgold@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Maternal and Child Health	103 CPC South
Research focus: Social determinants of domestic adolescent sexual health risk factors/outcomes, with a focus on sexual minorities CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Carolyn Halpern, Maternal and Child Health

Marissa Hall Email: mghall@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Health Behavior	Phone: (919) 843-4695 209 CPC South
Research focus: Mixed methods research; global non-communicable disease prevention; sexual and reproductive health; Latin America CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Clare Barrington, Health Behavior

Kelly Houck, M.A. Email: khouck@live.unc.edu Ph.D. Candidate, Anthropology Dissertation proposal successfully defended, April, 2012	531 CPC East
Research focus: Biocultural perspectives on the health consequences of urbanization and market integration in Ecuador and China; impacts of local disease ecologies on childhood growth, nutrition and immune function CPC Faculty Preceptors: Drs. Amanda Thompson, Anthropology and Paul Voss, Sociology

Karam Hwang Email: hwangk@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 103 CPC South
Research focus: Education, social stratification, adolescent physical and mental health, and life course studies CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Lisa Pearce, Sociology

Mark Janko Email: mark.janko@gmail.com Graduate Student, Geography	Phone: (919) 843-4695 304 CPC South
Research focus: Spatial and molecular epidemiology of infectious disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Michael Emch, Geography

Brian Levy Email: bllevy@gmail.com Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101L CPC South
Research focus: Poverty, stratification, and economic mobility CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Anthony Perez, Sociology

Hexuan Liu Email: hexuanliu1983@gmail.com Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 202 CPC South
Research focus: TBD CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Guang Guo, Sociology

Brian Miller Email: bwmiller@live.unc.edu Ph.D. Candidate, Ecology Dissertation proposal successfully defended, January 2011	Phone: (919) 843-4695 106 CPC South
Research focus: Social-dimensions of environmental conservation; resilience; pastoralist livelihoods; rangeland ecology and management; East Africa; western U.S. CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Paul Leslie, Anthropology

Jessica Pearlman, M.A. Email: pearlman@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-2509 526 CPC East
Research focus: Labor market inequality and health disparities, and relationships between demographic and economic change CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Lisa Pearce, Sociology

Kivan Polimis Curriculum Vitae Email: kpolimis@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101D CPC South
Research focus: Life course transitions related to residential mobility, adolescent health, education, and poverty. CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Anthony Perez, Sociology

Bianka Reese Email: bmreese@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Maternal and Child Health	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101M CPC South
Research focus: Social determinants and consequences of adolescent sexual and reproductive health CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Carolyn Halpern, Maternal and Child Health

Katherine Sacks Email: Sacks.Katherine@gmail.com Graduate Student, Public Policy	Phone: (919) 843-4695 103 CPC South
Research focus: TBD CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Ashu Handa, Public Health

Andrea Richardson Email: asrichar@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Nutrition	400A CPC East
Research focus: Underlying mechanisms between environment, behaviors, biology (genetics), and health disparities; food environments and individual health outcomes CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Penny Gordon-Larsen, Nutrition

Cheryl Roberts Email: carobert@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4443 401I CPC East
Research focus: Inequality and health, social determinants of health and mental health, life course, and adolescent risk behavior CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Glen Elder, Sociology

Molly Rosenberg Email: msr2a@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Epidemiology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 202 CPC South
Research focus: Spatial and social determinants of HIV risk; economic influences of sexual risk behavior; microfinance, cash transfers, sexual behavior and HIV risk among South African adolescent schoolgirls CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Audrey Pettifor, Epidemiology

Kristen Schorpp Email: kschorpp87@gmail.com Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101F CPC South
Research focus: Biological-social interactions and health, and impact of social disparities and health behaviors on disease occurrence, immune function, and aging CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Yang Yang, Sociology

Lindsey Smith Email: lindsey.smith@unc.edu Graduate Student, Nutrition	402B CPC East
Research focus: The nutrition transition, social and behavioral determinants of obesity, and health disparities CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Barry Popkin, Nutrition

Lisa Spees Email: lspees21@gmail.com Graduate Student, Public Policy	525 CPC East
Research focus: Community and school-level factors that enhance Latino adolescents' capacities to reach their academic aspirations CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Krista Perreira, Public Policy

Kelly Strutz Email: strutz@email.unc.edu Ph.D. Candidate, Maternal and Child Health Dissertation proposal successfully defended, April 2012	Phone: (919) 843-4695 107A CPC South
Research focus: Maternal preconception predictors of infant health outcomes; reproductive health disparities CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Jon Hussey, Maternal and Child Health

Christine Tucker, M.P.H. Email: chrisytucker@gmail.com Graduate Student, Maternal and Child Health	Phone: (919) 843-4695 107B CPC South
Research focus: Social determinants of reproductive health among Latino adolescents CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Carolyn Halpern, Maternal and Child Health


Katherine Tumlinson, M.A. Email: ktumlin@email.unc.edu Ph.D. Candidate, Epidemiology Dissertation proposal successfully defended, April 2012	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101H CPC South
Research focus: Improving access to family planning in East Africa, and quality of reproductive health services CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Ilene Speizer, Epidemiology

Ashton Verdery, M.A. Email: verdery@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 105 CPC South
Research focus: Social network research, statistical methodologies, agent based modeling, human environment interactions, and causes and consequences of human migration; particular emphasis on the development of new methodologies to deal with missing social network data, sample hidden and hard to reach populations, and understand human-environment relationships CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Barbara Entwisle, Sociology

Brandon Wagner Email: bgwagner@email.unc.edu Ph.D. Candidate, Sociology Dissertation proposal successfully defended, March 2012	Phone: (919) 843-4695 105 CPC South
Research focus: Inclusion of biological research in social models with a focus on methods and theoretical foundations, fertility behaviors and practices with a particular emphasis on sexual concurrency CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Kathleen Mullan Harris, Sociology

Andra Wilkinson Curriculum Vitae Email: wilkina@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Maternal and Child Health	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101N CPC South
Research focus: Psychosocial and biological correlates, and outcomes of the sexual behavior trajectories of adolescents CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Carolyn Halpern, Maternal and Child Health

Jennifer Winston Email: jwfuller@email.unc.edu Ph.D. Candidate, Geography Dissertation proposal successfully defended, August 2012	Phone: (919) 843-4695 301 CPC South
Research focus: Population-environment interactions, water quality, and maternal and child health CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Michael Emch, Geography

Zhenhua (Jessica) Xu Email: xuzhenhua521@gmail.com Graduate Student, Sociology	209 CPC South
Research focus: Early-life conditions and health outcomes in later life, aging and the life course, age period cohort (APC) analysis, and biomarkers in social science research CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Yang Yang, Sociology

Batool Zaidi Email: bzaidi@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	201 CPC South
Research focus: Fertility; marriage patterns in South Asia; educational inequality; stratification CPC Faculty Preceptors: Drs. Yong Cai and S. Philip Morgan, Sociology