CSDE Welcomes 4 New Faculty Affiliates
Posted: 8/17/2023 (CSDE Research)
CSDE’s Executive Committee is pleased to introduce four of our new UW Faculty Affiliates:
Tzu-Hsin Karen Chen – Incoming Assistant Professor, University of Washington; Donnelley Postdoctoral Associate, Yale University. Tzu-Hsin Karen Chen is an interdisciplinary data scientist and geographer interested in urbanization, changing landscape, and impacts on human health. She has developed remote sensing approaches combined with machine-learning in order to characterize forms of cities, not only at large scales but also a spatially-explicit resolution close to people’s living environment (e.g., type of housing within walking distance around homes) to understand health disparities.
Alison Fohner – Assistant Professor, Epidemiology. As an epidemiologist with multidisciplinary training in genomics, pharmaceutics, bioethics, and data science, she is passionate about identifying sources of individual variability in biomarkers and disease risk, and translating those discoveries into better therapies and population screening. The setting for her research is primarily the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), where she has conducted several epidemiologic investigations over the past several years, primarily focused on outcomes related to dementia and cognition. She is the PI of a K01 grant from the National Institute for Aging focused on identifying plasma proteomic biomarkers associated with cognitive decline and dementia within the CHS cohort. In addition to her work with the CHS, she partners with communities in the Yukon Kuskokwim River Delta of Alaska to evaluate the influence of diet-derived poly-unsaturated fatty acids on vitamin D levels and drug metabolism.
Kristian Jones – Assistant Professor, School of Social Work. Kristian Jones’ program of research examines how youth mentoring can be utilized to promote positive outcomes for Black youth. His current research focuses on how community-based youth mentoring programs promote social justice in the communities they serve. As a Black male scholar, Jones’ research is grounded in his passion for equity and inclusion, specifically as it relates to marginalized youth. Prior to joining the faculty at the UW School of Social Work, Jones received his PhD in social work from the University of Texas at Austin, his master’s of education in counseling from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Albany State University in Albany, GA.
Julianne Meisner – Assistant Professor, Global Health; Assistant Professor, Epidemiology; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences; Clinical Affiliate Professor, Veterinary Medicine. Julianne Meisner is a veterinarian and epidemiologist and early-stage investigator. Her research combines her dual training to tackle complex questions surrounding human health risks at the human-animal-environment interface, largely focused on the effect of livestock keeping on human health among rural communities. Her position as a veterinarian in the School of Public Health at the University of Washington is unique, simultaneously fostering both independence and innovation in her research, and depth in her collaborative network. Her burgeoning research track is situated within both epidemiologic methods and One Health research, affording her the opportunity to bridge gaps between these two communities and identify nuances inherent to research questions at the human-animal-interface that have been previously overlooked.
These affiliates bring a wealth of knowledge and unique approaches that enhance our community of demographers and collectively advances population science. We look forward to supporting each of them as they pursue their research. You can learn more about their individual research interests by visiting their affiliate pages, linked above.
If you are interested in becoming an affiliate or you know of someone who should become one, you can invite them to do so by directing them to this page. Affiliate applications are reviewed quarterly, by CSDE’s Executive Committee.