Incoming Fall 2023 Cohort of Postdoctoral Fellows at HCPDS

We are so pleased to introduce our incoming cohort (fall 2023) of postdoctoral fellows. These four exceptional scholars are an excellent fit with our focal areas and will be paired with faculty members who will help them expand and refine their research, and to grow academically and professionally. As usual, there was a competitive field of applicants for these four spots, and we look forward to welcoming this impressive cohort as part of the Harvard Pop Center community in the fall.

Shauna Dyer is a PhD candidate in sociology at the University of Michigan, where she also earned her master’s degree in sociology. Her research asks how macro-level changes in economic, legal, and social systems shape individual and family economic security, and traces their consequences for socio-economic, gender, and racial/ethnic inequalities. For example, Dyer’s dissertation addresses questions surrounding the effects changes in educational attainment and job quality on gender inequality in the labor market. As a Harvard David E. Bell Postdoctoral Fellow, Dyer will extend this line of research by investigating later life consequences of job quality on health and economic well-being.

Hayami Koga is a PhD candidate in population health sciences in the department of social and behavioral sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She holds an MD from the University of Occupational and Environmental Health in Japan. Koga’s doctoral work is exploring whether psychological well-being, at a population level, is an important asset that could contribute to a longer and healthier functioning lifespan with the aim of identifying new approaches to improve population health while reducing inequities. Based on findings from her current research, the workplace appears to be a promising setting in which to implement population-level interventions. As a Harvard David E. Bell Postdoctoral Fellow, Koga plans to further develop this approach by working with a hospitality group based in Japan that operates hotels and other venues around the globe.

Erika Meza is a PhD candidate in epidemiology and translational science at the University of California, San Francisco. She earned an MPH in environmental health sciences at Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health. Meza’s work explores intergenerational education, cognitive function, decline and risk of dementia for US Latinos. Her interest in socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic health inequities has been a consistent theme throughout her research. As a Harvard David E. Bell Postdoctoral Fellow, she will seek to develop new methods in mediation analysis, strengthen her understanding of social theories on transgenerational social mobility, and expand her dissertation research to other population subgroups and geographical contexts.

Jeong Hyun Oh is a PhD candidate in sociology at the University of Chicago, where she also earned an MA in sociology. Oh’s research lies at the intersection of demography and inequality, and in particular, focuses on how health and economic inequalities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are informed by demographic processes. Her work examines how educational expansion alters labor market outcomes among the “moderately educated” women and its implications for wealth inequality and diverging family experiences. She is especially interested in the role of luck and subjective perceptions in shaping inequality. As a Harvard Mortimer Spiegelman Postdoctoral Fellow in Demographic Studies, Oh will seek to link demographic theories and methods with the inequality literature to document how educational expansion shifts social relations at the individual and group level, with an emphasis on producing policy-relevant research.