Zohra Ansari-Thomas Assistant Professor of Public Health & Sociology
My research uses survey data and quantitative methods to examine social and structural inequalities in population health. My scholarship falls into three broad categories: 1) the social determinants of health and aging, 2) structures and institutions of (paid and unpaid; child and adult) care and outcomes for both care recipients and caregivers, and 3) family dynamics and implications for life trajectories. The aim of my research is to inform policy and practice to reduce health and socioeconomic inequalities among marginalized groups, and to challenge the social and structural institutions which uphold these inequalities.
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2023- Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology & Program in Public Health, Franklin & Marshall College
2023- Research Affiliate, Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania
2022-23 Associate Fellow, The Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania
EDUCATION
PhD Demography & Sociology, University of Pennsylvania, 2023
Dissertation: “Family and Unpaid Care in the Context of Population Aging”
Committee: Chenoa Flippen (Chair), Pilar Gonalons-Pons, Emilio Parrado
Comprehensive exams: Demography; Family sociology (with distinction)
Affiliated PhD student, International Max Planck Research School for Population, Health, and Data Science
MPH Epidemiology, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, 2018
BA Economics and Environmental Studies, Oberlin College, 2014
RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS
Population studies; Health and aging; Care work; Families; Migration; Social determinants of health
PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
Ansari-Thomas, Zohra. (2023). Immigration and Intergenerational Co-residency among Working-Aged Adults in the United Kingdom. Advance online publication. Journal of Family Issues.
Ansari-Thomas, Zohra. (2022). Care Needs and Arrangements of Aging Immigrants in the United States. Journal of Aging and Health, 35(3-4):191-208.
Ansari-Thomas, Zohra. (2022). Migration, Marriage, and Cohabitation among Hispanic Immigrant Women in the United States. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 53(3): 331-355.
Boen, Courtney, Nick Graetz, Hannah Olson, Zohra Ansari-Thomas, Laurin Bixby, Rebecca Anna Schut, and Hedwig Lee. (2021). Early Life Patterns of Criminal Justice Involvement: Inequalities by Race-Ethnicity, Gender, and Socioeconomic Status, Demographic Research, 46(5): 131-146.
Ansari-Thomas, Zohra, Sheila Desai, and Laura D. Lindberg. (2020). Sexual Activity, Contraceptive Use and Sexual Violence among Asian High School Students in the United States, Contraception, 101(2): 86-90.
Course Information
PBH 251. Introduction to Public Health
PBH 475. Public Health Research: Death, Sex, and Society