Meet the Carolina Population Center Faculty Fellows elected in 2026
The Carolina Population Center’s Faculty Fellows elected seven UNC faculty members to join the CPC Fellows program in 2026.
Payal Chakraborty
Dr. Chakraborty is an epidemiologist whose research focuses on understanding the impact of structural marginalization (e.g., discriminatory policies, restrictive reproductive health policies) on disparities in sexual and reproductive health outcomes in various populations. Her research spans topics across the reproductive justice spectrum. For example, she has conducted research quantifying use of nonpreferred contraceptive methods, impacts of restrictive reproductive health policies on accessing care, and disparities in adverse pregnancy outcomes among LGB+ populations.
David Cook-Martin
Dr. Cook-Martin’s work as a political sociologist focuses on understanding migration, labor, race, ethnicity, law, and citizenship in an international field of power. Geographically, his work has focused on the Americas, but also on Southern Europe. Most recently, his project on temporary labor migration schemes examines cases in Australia, Canada, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates and is the subject of his forthcoming book Workers without Rights: The Making of Temporary Labor Migration since Abolition.
Misa Graff
Dr. Graff is a genetic epidemiologist whose research focuses on the genetic architecture of obesity, body composition, and cardiometabolic traits across ancestrally diverse populations. She is a leading contributor to large-scale genome-wide association studies through major consortia including GIANT, PAGE, TOPMed, and HCHS/SOL, with particular emphasis on ensuring that genomic discovery reflects the full spectrum of human diversity.
Kate Harwood
Dr. Harwood’s research lies at the intersection of urban economics and real estate, housing policy and public economics, with an emphasis on how these fields interact with climate change. Her dissertation included papers examining the impact of natural disasters on rental markets and the role of government rental subsidies in the wake of such events, the impact of the increasing corporatization of landlords, and the effectiveness of policies aimed at reducing discrimination against subsidized households in the rental market.
Rafiuddin Najam
Dr. Najam’s research examines how exposure to armed conflict and other shocks shapes human capital and well-being over the life course, and how policy can respond, primarily in developing and conflict-affected settings. A complementary line of work studies the non-academic effects of the four-day school week in the United States. Across these projects, he aims to produce rigorous, policy-relevant evidence to inform interventions that protect and improve well-being.
Neil O’Brian
Dr. O’Brian’s research focuses on political polarization ranging from its root causes in the 20th century to its material impacts on individuals’ welfare and experiences in the contemporary era. His book, Roots of Polarization (September 2024, University of Chicago Press), explores how the racial realignment shaped contemporary polarization across other culture war issues. He is currently working on a set of projects that investigate how political predispositions shape health outcomes, trust in doctors, and adherence to medications — beyond the scope of the COVID pandemic. This work was awarded a 2024 Carnegie Fellowship.
Emily Parker
Dr. Parker’s research focuses on understanding how social values and norms become institutionalized in systems of governance. She is particularly interested in the role of the state in shaping health, poverty, and social inequality. She uses multiple methodological and disciplinary approaches to study the U.S. welfare state, including archival research on the historical development and politics of policymaking, in-depth qualitative interviews with individuals who participate in the public-private safety net, and quantitative research on the spatial distribution and sociodemographic impact of safety net policy.