Alena Sorensen D’Alessio
Alena is a PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology with a focus on social epidemiology. Alena's current research leverages longitudinal cohort data to better understand how systems of oppression and disadvantage across the life course lead to accelerated biological aging and aging-related disease. She has an undergraduate degree in Sociology with minors in math and computer science as well as a Master of Public Health degree from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, OH. Prior to starting the doctoral program at UNC, Alena was a data analyst at the Center on Poverty and Community Development at CWRU where she worked on a wide variety of mixed methods research and program evaluations using the Child Household Integrated Longitudinal Data (CHILD) System, one of the most comprehensive longitudinal and continually-updated integrated data systems in the country.