Predoctoral Research Professionals

Luca Adorni

Dylan Baker

Marion Carr

Bin Cheng

Michelle Cherian

Terry Culpepper

Gaia Gaudenzi

Jonah Gilbert

Kyel Governor

Hongchang Guo

Max Hippold

Sharad Hotha

Chun Hei Hung

Reigner Kane

Uditi Karna

Haoran Li

Marcus Lim

Richard Lu

Selene Cueva Madrid

Bruno Maguida

Purushottam Mohanty

Matthew Neils

Vaidehi Parameswaran

Shashank Patil

Haomin Qin

Lina M. Ramirez

Marcia Ruiz

Becky Scurlock

Rathan Sudheer

Sara Restrepo Tamayo

Santiago Velasquez

Arnstein Vestre

Linghui Wu

Haoyang Xie (Stan)

Mengdi Zhang
Luca Adorni
Dylan Baker
Dylan Baker is a Predoctoral Research Professional working in the Becker Friedman Institute’s Health Economics Initiative. He works under Professor Joshua Gottlieb on projects related to health economics, including topics such as healthcare labor markets. He earned his bachelor’s degrees from the University of Kentucky in economics, political science, psychology, and history.
Marion Carr
Marion Carr is a Predoctoral Research Professional at the Becker Friedman Institute working with Chang-Tai Hsieh and Marianne Bertrand. She graduated from Swarthmore College in 2022 with an honors major in Economics and an honors minor in Philosophy.
Bin Cheng
Michelle Cherian
Michelle Cherian is Predoctoral research professional at DIL. In her current position, she will be supporting lead researcher Akito Kamei and professor Elisa M. Maffioli on a scaled-up chlorine coupon program in Kenya, while also supporting efforts to study the feasibility of setting up similar programs in India and Nigeria. She has previously worked as a data research assistant on gender-related projects at Oxford University as well as a policy consultant in the education space at the OECD. She has also led a large-scale RCT in Punjab and Haryana in India as a research associate at J-PAL SA, supervising implementation-monitoring, managing field teams, and working on survey design, data collection and analysis. Michelle completed her master’s degree in Economics and Public policy from the Paris School of Economics and her bachelor’s degree in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University.
Contact: cherianm@uchicago.edu
Terry Culpepper
Gaia Gaudenzi
Gaia is working as a predoctoral researcher with professors Rachel Glennerster and Anne Karing on a project related to vaccination in Sierra Leone. She earned her bachelor at Bocconi University in Economics and Business and a Double Degree from Bocconi University and SciencesPo in Economics and Business and International Economic Policy. Before joining BFI, she worked in Bangladesh as a Research Coordinator with BRAC on an RCT aiming to reduce Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). She also worked at Bocconi University in Italy on education, specifically on how to mitigate the learning loss caused by the pandemic. Her research interests lie at the intersection between behavioral, development economics and public policy. In her free time, Gaia likes photography and gardening.
Jonah Gilbert
Kyel Governor
Born in Canada, I grew up in the GTA but I have close ties to Tobago where my family is from. My interest in economics, particularly welfare economics, stems from my upbringing and my wanting to understand how we can improve people’s quality of life beyond improving just their incomes. Currently, I am working on investigating trends in the labour market with Professor Thibaut Lamadon.
Contact: kgovernor@uchicago.edu
Hongchang Guo
Hongchang Guo is a Research Professional at the Becker Friedman Institute, working with Professor Azeem Shaikh and Professor Max Tabord-Meehan on research projects related to econometric theory, including topics such as experimental design and policy learning. Hongchang holds an M.A. in Economics from Duke University, B.A. in Economics (Mathematical Economics and Mathematical Finance) from Central University of Finance and Economics.
Max Hippold
Maximilian Hippold received a BS in Economics from the Ludwig-Maximilians -Universität in Munich in 2021. During his undergraduate degree he worked as a RA for Prof. Florian Englmaier at the chair of Organizational Economics. He joined Prof. John List’s team for the Chicago Experiments Initiative after spending the previous year enrolled in the MS in Economics at the London School of Economics in 2022. His research interests span various applications of microeconomics with particular focus on education, behavioral economics, political economy and development economics.
Sharad Hotha
Sharad Hotha is a Research Professional at DIL, assisting in providing research products for the Global Educational Evidence Advisory Panel (GEEAP). After graduating in Computer Science and Economics from BITS-Pilani, Sharad worked briefly in Market Risk Management at Credit Suisse. His most recent role was that of a Research Associate at the Indian School of Business, where he worked on research projects in finance and banking. Sharad’s research interests lie broadly in microeconomics. He’s specifically passionate about research questions relating to inequality, education, and political economy.
Chun Hei Hung
Chun Hei Hung is a Predoctoral Research Professional in the Macro Finance Research (MFR) Program. His research interests lie in macroeconomics and political economy. Chun Hei holds a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Oxford. Before joining MFR, he worked in the management consulting industry.
Reigner Kane
Reigner Kane is a Predoctoral Research Professional working under Profs. Esteban Rossi-Hansberg and Felix Tintelnot on projects involving international trade and economic geography. Reigner’s research interests lie at the intersection of spatial and environmental economics and applied econometrics. They have received a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and a M.A. in Social Sciences with a concentration in Economics from the University of Chicago.
Uditi Karna
Uditi Karna is a Predoctoral Research Professional in the Chicago Experiments Initiative led by Professor John List. She currently assists on field experimental projects testing the effects of educational interventions over time, as well as the efficacy of cognitive and non-cognitive treatments on skill formation in Chicago middle school students. Her interest in experimental economics grew as she conducted her own research on systemic discrimination in South Asia, while simultaneously working and developing her skills as an undergraduate RA on List’s team. She has particular interest in persistent inequality, human capital development, and disparities in economic opportunity. Uditi received her B.A. in Economics with a specialization in Data Science and a minor in Statistics from the University of Chicago in 2020.
Haoran Li
Marcus Lim
Marcus Lim is a Predoctoral Research Professional at the Ronzetti Initiative for the Study of Labor Markets working with Professor Magne Mogstad on projects related to the study of labor markets. Marcus is interested in labor economics, especially on how labor markets are shaped. Marcus holds an M.A. in Economics from the University of British Columbia and a B.A. in Economics from the National University of Singapore.
Richard Lu
I am interested in working at the intersection of urban, environmental, and development economics. I believe EPIC is the perfect environment where I can examine, in an empirical manner, the unique problems that we face in the 21st century. Here, I can explore my academic interests and find a supportive, close-knitted community of individuals to learn from and grow together. Outside of economics, I enjoy Renaissance history, architecture, and musicals.
Selene Cueva Madrid
Selene Cueva Madrid is a Research Professional at DIL working on the scaling-up of a chlorine voucher program in Kenya. She previously worked at J-PAL LAC in the evaluation of multiple programs of labor markets, disabilities, education and gender in different countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to this, she worked as a research assistant at the Group for the Analysis of Development (GRADE) in Peru. Selene holds a master’s degree in Economics from Boston University.
Contact: cueva@uchicago.edu
Bruno Maguida
Purushottam Mohanty
Purushottam Mohanty is a Becker Friedman Institute Pre-Doctoral Research Professional working under Professor Oeindrila Dube on a variety of topics in the space of political economy. He is interested in pursuing research in the field of development economics and political economy. Previously, he worked as a Senior Data Associate at Good Business Lab. Purushottam earned his MS in Economics from the Paris School of Economics and BA in Economics from the University of Delhi.
Matthew Neils
I am originally from Michigan, and was first motivated to engage with environmental issues by the various forms of chemical and industrial water degradation occurring in my home state. At Swarthmore, I was able to use economic tools to study interventions intended to limit water use in drought-prone areas, the political impacts of wildfire exposure, and a variety of other topics that deepened my interest in these areas and gave me a sharper appreciation of their human impacts.
Vaidehi Parameswaran
Shashank Patil
Shashank is a Predoctoral Research Professional at DIL. At DIL, he works on economics of education and assists in research projects associated with the Global Educational Evidence Advisory Panel (GEEAP). Prior to joining DIL, Shashank interned at the Good Business Lab working on evaluating interventions in labor well-being and productivity. His interests include development policy, political economy of development, and governance. Shashank completed his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, India.
Haomin Qin
Haomin Qin is a Predoctoral Research Professional in the Macro Finance Research (MFR) Program at the Becker Friedman Institute, working with Professor Lars Hansen on research projects related to macroeconomic modeling and asset pricing. Haomin holds an M.A. in Social Science with a concentration in Economics from the University of Chicago.
Lina M. Ramirez
Lina M. Ramirez is a Predoctoral Research Professional on the Chicago Experiments Initiative under the leadership of professor John List. She has worked on projects related to the Joint Initiative for Latin American Experiments (JILAEE) in partnership with the University of CEMA in Argentina, as well as projects related to the science of doing science. Lina became interested in experimental economics after designing and implementing economic experiments as a research assistant at the Universidad de Los Andes (Colombia), where she obtained her MA and BA in Economics with a minor in Law. Lina’s research interests lie at the intersection of development, political economy, and behavioral economics.
Marcia Ruiz
Becky Scurlock
Becky Scurlock is a Research Professional at DIL. She recently completed her studies at the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Economics, a B.S. in Statistics, and a M.S. in Statistics. Her current work focuses on education and Bayesian statistics, though she is also interested in political economy. Before coming to DIL, Becky worked with Dr. Ishan Nath at the Energy Policy Institute (EPIC) and Professor Oeindrila Dube at the Harris School of Public Policy.
Contact: rscurlock@uchicago.edu
Rathan Sudheer
Rathan Sudheer is a Research Professional at DIL. He is currently working to support the agriculture projects in Kenya. He previously worked with EPIC India as a Senior Research Associate for three years where he supported multiple research projects at the intersection of energy and climate change. Rathan holds a masters degree in Public Policy and Governance from Azim Premji University, India.
Contact: rsudheer@uchicago.edu
Sara Restrepo Tamayo
Sara Restrepo Tamayo holds an MPP and MA in Economics from Universidad del Rosario, from Bogotá, Colombia. She has previously worked at the InterAmerican Development Bank, Innovations for Poverty Action, and the Central Bank of Colombia. She has worked on RCTs looking to reduce the gap in STEM between K-12 girls and boys, the RECOVR project, and measuring the impact of VAT devolution to the poorest in expenditure outcomes.
Santiago Velasquez
Santiago Velasquez is a Research Professional at DIL in educational research projects in South America and Africa. Prior to coming to Chicago, Santiago worked as a Research Assistant for UC Berkeley Ph.D. Student Arlen Guarin and UCLA Professor Juliana Londoño-Velez assessing the impact of the Colombian reparation program for victims of the armed conflict. He has also previously worked as RA for Professor Jorge Tamayo and as an intern in the Colombian Central Bank. Santiago is completing his master’s degree at EAFIT University in Colombia and holds a bachelor’s in Economics from the same institution.
Contact: svelasquez1@uchicago.edu
Arnstein Vestre
Arnstein Vestre is a Predoctoral Research Professional for Prof. Magne Mogstad on the Ronzetti Initiative for the Study of Labor Markets, assisting with projects in labor economics, such as analyzing the pass-through of economic shocks on workers and firm owners, and the effects of unionization and education. In addition to labor economics, he is interested in the the analysis of income and wealth inequality. Arnstein graduated from the University of Oslo, with a bachelor degree in Mathematics and Economics with specialization in economic analysis.
Linghui Wu
Haoyang Xie (Stan)
Mengdi Zhang
Mengdi Zhang is a Predoctoral Research Professional at BFI-China under the supervision of Professor Zhiguo He, working on projects related to Chinese political economy and finance. She holds a MA in Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences (Economics) from Columbia University and a BS double majored in Computer Science and Quantitative Social Analysis from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Christine Blandhol

John Bonney

Futing Chen

Kwok Yan Chiu

Michael Cuna

Yiren Ding

Daniel Fox

Maximiliano Gonzalez

Seung ah Ha

Hyong-gu Hwang

Xianglong Kong

Omkar Katta

Santiago Lacouture

Isaac Liu

Ariel Listo

Anya Marchenko

Maria Milosh

Adam Oppenheimer

María Alejandra Rodríguez

Matthew Schwartzman

Kazuatsu Shimizu

Nagisa Tadjfar

Haruka Uchida

Atom Vayalinkal

Jiaming Wang

Jieyao Wang

John Wilson

Zhen Xie

Zhenhuan Xie

Han Xu

Menglu Xu

Yifan Xu

Jiada Ye

Mingjie Zhu
Christine Blandhol
John Bonney
Futing Chen
Futing Chen is a Predoctoral Research Professional at BFI-China under the supervision of Professor Zhiguo He, working on projects related to Chinese political economy and finance. In addition to political economy, she is interested in labor economics and development economics, especially demography and the role of institutions and geopraphy. Futing holds a MA in Social Sciences (Economics) from the University of Chicago and a BS in Economics from Central University of Finance and Economics.
Kwok Yan Chiu
MSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics at London School of Economics
Michael Cuna
MA in Economics at the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics
Yiren Ding
Yiren Ding is a Predoctoral Research Professional at BFI working for Michael Dinerstein, assisting projects in the economics of education with topics ranging from teacher labor markets to competition between schools. Yiren is interested in the strategic behavior of schools and teachers and how it affects students. Before working at BFI, she graduated from MAPSS at the University of Chicago.
Daniel Fox
Daniel Fox is a Predoctoral Research Professional for the Macroeconomic Research Initiative, working under Dr. Greg Kaplan. He has worked on a variety of projects which include Heterogeneous Agent New Keynesian (HANK) models, monetary and fiscal policy with heterogeneity, and more recently the role that changes in markups play on the overall share of labor and on labor income inequality. His interest in macroeconomics began after seeing the effect the Great Recession had on his hometown and family. This eventually led him to participate in an intensive seven week Open Source Macroeconomics bootcamp, hosted by BFI, where he learned valuable computational tools used in macroeconomics research. Daniel received his B.S. from Brigham Young University, where he double majored in Economics and Mathematics.
Maximiliano Gonzalez
Seung ah Ha
Seung ah Ha is a Predoctoral Research Professional in the international economics initiative at BFI, assisting Professor Brent Neiman and Professor Felix Tintelnot on various international finance / trade and international macroeconomics projects. Her research interests include international trade, international finance and labor economics. She earned her M.S. at the University of Chicago majoring in statistics, and her B.A. in applied statistics at Yonsei University.
Hyong-gu Hwang
Hyong-gu (Alex) Hwang is a Predoctoral Research Professional at the Becker Friedman Institute working with Professors Pietro Tebaldi and Alexander Torgovitsky. Hyong-gu assists with the development of statistical packages for demand estimation in discrete choice models and with projects analyzing the industrial organization of healthcare markets. His research interests are in household finance, educational inequality, and market structure and pricing. Hyong-gu graduated from The College of Wooster in 2020 with a double major in economics and mathematics.
Xianglong Kong
Xianglong Kong is a Predoctoral Research Professional on Professor Felix Tintelnot’s research team at BFI, assisting with topics on international trade, industrial organization, and labor economics. Xianglong has particular interests in understanding the role of economic networks. He obtained MA in Social Sciences (Economics) at The University of Chicago and BS in Mathematical Economics and Finance at Central University of Finance and Economics.
Omkar Katta
Omkar A. Katta is a Predoctoral Research Professional at the Big Data Initiative of the Becker Friedman Institute. He works with Drs. Alexander Torgovitsky and Guillaume Pouliot on methodological research in causal inference and econometric theory. Omkar graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Mathematical Economics with Distinction and minors in Statistics and Creative Writing.
Santiago Lacouture
Santiago Lacouture is a Predoctoral Research Professional on the Ronzetti Initative for the Study of Labor Markets Team assisting professors Magne Mogstad and Ingvil Gaarder on several projects in Labor and Public economics. Santiago also has related interests in policies and their impacts on the formation of human capital and household behavior. Santiago holds a Master’s and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and a Bachelor’s Degree in Government and Public Affairs from Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia.
Isaac Liu
Isaac Liu is a Predoctoral Research Professional working under Profs. Christina Patterson and Joe Vavra. He has worked on a variety of projects on topics such as unemployment insurance replacement rates during the Coronavirus pandemic, the path dependent effects of monetary policy on mortgage refinancing, and the phenomenon of national, firm-wide wage setting. His personal research interests are in public economics, development, and finance. Isaac received his BS from the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where he majored in International Political Economy with a minor in Mathematics.
Ariel Listo
Ariel Listo is a Predoctoral Research Professional on John List’s Experimental Economics research team, focusing on the intersection of resource and behavioral economics through field experiments. Most recently, he has worked on projects that aim to understand the effect of non-price interventions on households’ electricity usage and the persistence of such effect over time. He is mainly interested in mechanisms that induce individuals and policy-makers to make environmentally sensible decisions. Ariel holds a M.S. in Economics from the University of Maine and a B.A. in Economics from St. Thomas University.
Anya Marchenko
B.A in Economics from the University of Chicago
Maria Milosh
Adam Oppenheimer
Adam Oppenheimer is a Predoctoral Research Professional at the Ronzetti Initiative for the Study of Labor Markets, working with Professor Thibaut Lamadon on projects in labor economics. In addition to labor economics, Adam is interested in applications of overlapping generations models to public finance. Adam graduated from the University of Chicago in 2020 with a degree in Economics.
María Alejandra Rodríguez
María Alejandra Rodríguez is a Predoctoral Research Professional working with professor Alessandra Voena on the Ronzetti Initiative for the Study of Labor Markets. She assists on research projects that explore how household and labor market decisions are jointly determined. Her research interests are in labor economics, economic theory and econometrics. María Alejandra completed her M.A. in Economics at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in 2019. She also holds a M.A. and B.A. in Economics from Universidad del Pacífico in Peru. Prior to her program at UBC, María Alejandra worked as an analyst at the Central Reserve Bank of Peru.
Matthew Schwartzman
BA in Economics and Mathematics at the University of Toronto
Kazuatsu Shimizu
Kazuatsu Shimizu is a Predoctoral Research Professional at BFI, assisting Chang-Tai Hsieh (at the Booth School of Business) and Erik Hurst. He works on topics in the field of Applied Macroeconomic Theory such as innovation, trade, and labor market, providing research assistance mainly with theoretical work. Kazuatsu graduated from Swarthmore College in 2019 with an honors major in Economics and an honors minor in Mathematics.
Nagisa Tadjfar
Haruka Uchida
Atom Vayalinkal
Jiaming Wang
Jiaming Wang is currently a Predoctoral Research Professional for the Macro Finance Research Program. He’s currently assisting Professor Lars Hansen on climate finance and how ambiguity and model uncertainty affect asset prices. Aside from this, he is also interested in financial crisis and topics related to Chinese financial markets. Jiaming has a BBA in Accounting and BA in Economics from Xi’an Jiaotong University, a Master’s in Finance from SAIF, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and a MSc in Financial Engineering from Columbia University.
Jieyao Wang
John Wilson
Zhen Xie
Zhen Xie is a Predoctoral Research Professional at the Becker Friedman Institute, working with Professor Guillaume Pouliot. He is broadly interested in econometric theory, statistical methodologies, and corresponding nonstandard optimization problems. Recently, he is working on synthetic control methods, spatial econometrics, and computation strategies for a class of econometric problems. Zhen obtained his B.A. from Xi’an Jiaotong University, where he studied economics and mathematics.
Zhenhuan Xie
Zhenhuan Xie is a Predoctoral Research Professional in the Macro Finance Research (MFR) Program at the Becker Friedman Institute, working with Professor Lars Hansen on research projects related to macroeconomic modeling and asset pricing, which is also where his research interests lie. Zhenhuan holds an M.A. in Statistics from Columbia University, B. Eng. in Engineering Physics and B.A. in English Language from Tsinghua University.
Han Xu
Han Xu is a Predoctoral Research Professional on MFR director Lars Peter Hansen’s research team, assisting with topics including climate economics, macro finance and asset pricing. Han became interested in macroeconomics and asset pricing after his gap-year internship at Merrill Lynch assisting industry macroeconomists to study short-term economic fluctuations. Han graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he majored in Finance and minored in Math.
Menglu Xu
Menglu Xu is a Predoctoral Research Professional in the international economics initiative at BFI, working under the supervision of Prof. Brent Neiman, Prof. Rodrigo Adao and Prof. Rohan Kekre on a variety of international finance and trade projects. Her research interests are in international trade, international finance and labor economics. Menglu earned her MA in economics from the University of Texas at Austin and her BS in economics from Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.
Yifan Xu
Yifan Xu is a Predoctoral Research Professional working in the Ronzetti Initiative for the Study of Labor Markets for Prof. Magne Mogstad, assisting with projects in labor market studies and applied econometrics. She has research interest in labor economics and the economics of education. Yifan completed her B.A. in Economics (with specialization in Data Science) and Mathematics at the University of Chicago.
Jiada Ye
Jiada Ye is a Predoctoral Research Professional for Professor Manasi Deshpande, assisting with projects evaluating government programs such as Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income. His research interests also include behavioral economics. Jiada earned his MA in economics, and BS in economics and mathematics from the University of Toronto.
Mingjie Zhu
Mingjie Zhu is a Predoctoral Research Professional at the Becker Friedman Institute, working on projects related to international economics and urban economics under the supervision of Jonathan Dingel and Felix Tintelnot. She finished her master’s study at the University of Chicago, where she majored in Economics, and she earned a B.A. in Economics from Nankai University.