Meet the JPRs

Elora joined ISR after graduating with a B.A. in Public Policy and minors in Economics and Civic Analytics from the University of Illinois Chicago, where she assisted in and conducted research across various fields, including government finance and public health.

At ISR, Elora is part of the American National Election Studies (ANES) team, observing changes in public opinion over time within the U.S. electorate. Their mentors are Nicholas Valentino and David Howell.

Ritsa came to ISR from Lincoln, Nebraska where she completed her B.A. at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Political Science and Economics with minors in Psychology, Statistics, and Mathematics. At ISR, she now works with law and economics faculty JJ Prescott and Sonja Starr assessing the effects of automatic criminal record expungement in Michigan.

Malak is a 2024 graduate from the University of Michigan with a BA in public policy and minor in economics and has extensive experience as a research assistant in policy and political science, alongside federal and congressional internships. She is a research associate on the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), where she is currently examining the links between survey response behavior and cognition. Thomas Crossley and Noura Insolera are her mentors.

Belle came to ISR from Green Bay, WI where she worked on clinical and cognitive psychology research and obtained my BA in Psychology. Belle is on the National Addiction and HIV Data Archive Program team, where she is conducting research on the impacts of nicotine on women throughout their lifespan. Amy Pienta and Chelsea Samples-Steele are her mentors.

Daniel returned to Michigan after graduating from Columbia University, where he studied Political Science-Statistics and Hispanic Studies, with research focused on redistricting reform and subnational identity development. As part of the CJARS team, Daniel is currently helping process criminal justice data received from dozens of agencies across the country. Michael Mueller-Smith and Jordan Papp are Daniel’s mentors.

Madelyn came to ISR from UNC-Chapel Hill, where she studied sociology, religious studies, and data science, worked on Add Health, and was a NextGenPop research fellow. She works with Dr. Noah Webster in the Life Course Development program on multiple projects, including a rural contexts study in collaboration with the College of Engineering and the Huron River Watershed Council which evaluates the role of social networks and technology use among dam operators.

Juliana joined ISR after studying Public Policy and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at the University of Chicago. She is currently part of the Monitoring the Future Panel team, where she assists in conducting follow-up surveys with subsets of graduating high schoolers surveyed by MTF to track trends in substance use. Ginny Laetz and Megan Patrick are Juliana’s mentors.

Doug grew up outside of Philadelphia and attended Middlebury College in Vermont, where he studied Economics. Doug is currently working on the Decennial Census Digitization and Linkage Project, which is using census data from between 1940-2000 to create a longitudinal data set that will allow for groundbreaking research on opportunity and mobility. His mentors are Trent Alexander and David Bleckley.

Guiying (Angel) came to ISR from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she worked as a Research Analyst at the Center for Health Disparities Research after graduating from the University of the Pacific in 2023. At ISR, Angel is part of the PC CARES team, a community health program led by Dr. Lisa Wexler, where they are taking a participatory strengths based-approach to suicide prevention and helping translate research into actionable products and takeaways for community members.

Chiara earned her bachelor’s degree in economics and educational studies from Macalester College in 2023. Now at ISR, she works in the Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics on a variety of projects ranging from quantitatively measuring structural racism to using historic subways to analyze segregation in New York City. Sasha Killewald is Chiara’s mentor.

Elliott graduated from Harvard College in 2023 with a degree in Social Studies, where his research centered around Haudenosaunee sovereignty and political theory. At ISR, he works in the Social Environment and Health program with a focus on projects related to neighborhood green space, climate change, and colonialism as a determinant of health. Philippa Clarke, Kate Duchowny, and Grace Noppert are his mentors.

Bolu Dogari came to ISR from Shepherd University where she received her BA in Psychology. She is currently working with the HomeLab to understand how research interacts with marginalized communities and how it extends into decisions about technology, policies, and more. Rich Gonzalez and Alicia Carmichael are Bolu’s mentors.

Angelica graduated from the University of Michigan and studied Psychology while working with individuals on the autism spectrum and supporting research on advancing access to human trafficking support networks in Michigan. She is now a member of the Aging and Biopsychosocial Innovations team at ISR and Dr. Courtney Polenick’s team at Michigan Medicine, where she examines the links between stress, social relationships, and well-being in older adults, with an emphasis on dementia caregivers.

Before beginning the JPR program Uma attended the University of Michigan, where she studied Biology and Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences. She now works in the Population, Neurodevelopment, and Genetics Program on projects related to social epigenetics and DNA methylation, specifically in relation to how environmental/social factors influence the genome to impact child development. Erin Ware is Uma’s mentor.