Emma Zang, PhD

Emma Zang is a demographer and quantitative methodologist. She is particularly interested in developing and evaluating methods to model trajectories and life transitions in order to better understand how demographic and socioeconomic inequalities shape the health and well-being of individuals from life course perspectives. Her ongoing work explores 1) Bayesian approaches to modeling group-based trajectories, incorporating Bayesian Model Averaging techniques; 2) Bayesian approaches to making multi-state life tables using high-dimensional survey data; 3) evaluations of Age-Period-Cohort (APC) models.

Dr. Zang also works on climate change and population health. Specifically, she is collaborating with YCCCH colleagues to better understand the impact of extreme temperature and air pollution on children's academic performance and health, using administrative data for all public schools in North Carolina. She and collaborators are also evaluating the effect of long-term ozone exposure on cognitive impairment among Chinese older adults. In the future, she is also interested in examining the impact of climate change on fertility, mortality, and migration patterns in the US and China.