Current Social Sciences

Dr. Feng Jiang is the deputy director of Research Center for Healthcare Management and Evaluation, at the Institute of Healthy Yangtze River Delta of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He received his Ph.D. degree from School of public health, Peking Union Medical College and MD degree from School of Mental Health, Capital Medical University. He joined the faculty of SJTU in 2020. His research areas are health policy, hospital management and public mental health.

Dr. Paul A. Burns is an Assistant Professor of Population Health in the John D. Bower School of Population Health at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Dr. Burns' research focuses on examining the influence of social determinants of health, with a particular focus on understanding how social and structural factors impact sexual risk behavior and access to HIV prevention services, that increases HIV vulnerability for racial/ethnic and sexual and gender minority populations, both in the U.S. and globally. Through a research program that integrates population health, public health, urban planning, sociology and psychology, his research has contributed to the body of evidence that demonstrates: 1) macro-level factors such as structural discrimination, residential segregation, and neighborhood structural disadvantage undermines prosocial behavior increasing HIV vulnerability and 2) the built environment plays a significant role in structuring access to opportunities and resources that can either protect or increase an individual's exposure to HIV/AIDS.

Dr. Kelle DeBoth Foust Ph.D., has worked as a pediatric occupational therapist in school, home and community settings since 2004. She did her Ph.D in Health Related Sciences; Occupational Therapy, Virginia Commonwealth University, in 2016. Her clinical area of expertise is children with autism and sensory processing disorders. She completed specialized certification in the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests (SIPT), becoming SI certified in 2006. Her early work focused on identifying sensory-based subtypes in children with autism and exploring related neurophysiological and functional behavior correlates of these subtypes. Her current research interests include multisensory processing in autism and sensory processing disorders, neurophysiology, interprofessional education, multidisciplinary pediatric interventions, and exploring how technology can benefit communities and populations with disabilities. She has received a number of honors and awards.

Siyu Ma, is a Senior Research Scientist at the Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health at the Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies at Tufts Medical Center. Dr. Ma's research focuses on examining the outcomes and economic value of health interventions, factors that influence medication adherence, and the clinical and economic burden of diseases. Dr. Ma completed her Post-Doctoral training at Tufts Medical Center and holds a PhD in Health Policy from Brandeis University.

Dr. Stone has been a faculty member in the Department of Social Work since 2009. During that time, he spent 11 years as the Chair of the Department, and, currently he has been serving as the Associate Dean for Scholarship and Faculty Development in the College of Health. He has taught primarily in the areas of research methodology and statistics at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. His research has focused on areas such as program evaluation, families, and social work practice. He has served as Co-PI on a Child Welfare Education Collaborative Grant (2009-2017) and the BSW and MSW Education Training Partnership Grant funded by Indiana Family and Social Services Administration and on HRSA Federal Support for NEI-AHEC. His service activities have focused on his work at Open Door Health Services where he currently serves as Chair of the Board.

Dr. Antonio Viñuela graduated in biology (1998) and biochemistry (1999) from the University of Salamanca. Dr. Vinuela worked in the Cell Biology and Pathology laboratory at the Faculty of Medicine and obtained a fellowship, to the doctoral thesis in Neuroscience. In these years, Dr. Vinuela did three stays at the University of West Virginia with the PhD. Albert Berrebi. Dr. Vinuela obtained the title of PhD, analysis of nerve connections of the auditory pathways. Dr. Vinuela learned different techniques of microsurgery, neuronal marking, immunohistology, optical and confocal microscopy techniques. After the thesis, Vinuela became part of the team of the Molecular Genetics Unit of the Ramón-Cajal hospital. Later on, Dr. Vinuela became Secugen company staff as head of the Molecular Genetics laboratory, for 5 years. During the same period, Dr. Vinuela became part of the teaching staff of the European University of Madrid. In the last three years, Dr. Vinuela remained a part of the teaching staff as professor at the University of Castilla-La Mancha.