The Lurie Institute for Disability Policy

Student Research Assistants

Natalie Chong, Graduate Research Assistant

Natalie Chong

Graduate Research Assistant

Natalie Chong is a doctoral student at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management where she studies health policy and health services research. Her research interests include access to and quality of end-of-life care, as well as aging and health policy issues that impact older adults. She is also an analyst in RTI International’s Quality Measurement and Health Policy Program, where she works to develop performance measures for federal quality reporting programs in post-acute care settings.

Fernanda Escobar

Fernanda Escobar

Graduate Research Assistant

Fernanda Escobar is a doctoral student in the Economic and Racial Equity concentration. Her research interests include American immigration policy, immigrant children's and families' experiences, intergenerational mobility, poverty, and equality of opportunity in the United States. She holds a master's degree in public policy with a concentration in poverty alleviation from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. Prior to her doctoral studies, Fernanda was a research associate at the Institute for Economic and Racial Equity (formerly IASP), where she did quantitative analyses of national data to help understand the impact of policies on the racial wealth gap. Fernanda has extensive experience in immigration and refugee policy.

Sarah Jerome

Sarah Jerome

Graduate Research Assistant

Sarah J. Jerome is a doctoral student in the Children, Youth, and Families concentration at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. A public-health researcher and training and technical assistance specialist at Education Development Center, Sarah is dedicated to eliminating health disparities and promoting health equity for disenfranchised, marginalized, and underserved communities through education, capacity building, and advocacy. She is a member of the steering committee for the Arc of Massachusetts and a member of the board of directors of the Haitian Health Institute. Her research interests include exploring intersections of race, disabilities, and systems-navigation and their impact on individual wellness. She aims to apply this knowledge to inform advocacy efforts and relevant policy and practice. Sarah holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from Boston University, a certificate in Disability and Health Policy from Suffolk University, and a bachelor's (BS) degree in biology from Oglethorpe University. In 2019, she completed the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center’s Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Fellowship program.

Gene Kang, Communications Intern at the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy

Gene Kang

Communications Intern

Gene Kang (he/him) is a junior at Brandeis University double-majoring in Politics and Health: Science, Society, Policy (HSSP) and minoring in Legal Studies. After graduation, he hopes to pursue further education and work in law, healthcare, and public health policy.
Gabrielle Katz, Graduate Research Assistant

Gabrielle Katz

Graduate Research Assistant

Gabrielle Katz is a PhD candidate concentrating in health policy at the Heller School. Her research interests include understanding disparities in health access and quality of post-acute and long-term support services for older adults and adults with disabilities in the U.S. In addition to her role at Lurie, she is the Assistant Director for The Council on Health Care Economics and Policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. Prior to the PhD program, Gabrielle worked in conducting program evaluation, technical assistance, implementation, and policy analysis for federal stakeholders like the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and state stakeholders the like the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Emily Ledingham

Emily Ledingham

Graduate Research Assistant

Emily Ledingham, MPH, is a PhD student and NIAAA pre-doctoral trainee studying behavioral health and disability policy. She received a Master of Public Health degree from Westminster College and a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from the University of Utah. Emily has worked on a variety of qualitative and quantitative research projects with the Institute of Behavioral Health and the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy, on issues such as opioid use disorders, peer supports, behavioral health treatment gaps, and sexual violence against people with disabilities. Prior to coming to Heller, she worked as a research consultant for the Utah Division of Services for People with Disabilities and was an adjunct professor at Westminster College in the public health program. Emily's research interests are primarily in substance use/mental health, chronic pain, health disparities, civil rights of people with disabilities, home and community-based services, sexual violence against people with disabilities, and access to health/social services.
Ian Moura, Graduate Research Assistant

Ian Moura

Graduate Research Assistant

Ian Moura is a PhD student in Social Policy in the Children, Youth, and Families Concentration at the Heller School. His research interests include services and outcomes for autistic adults, data and measurement, and algorithmic bias. In addition to his studies, Ian is a Community Project Lead with the Academic Autism Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education (AASPIRE). Before coming to Heller, Ian worked with the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF), where he recently led a research team in collecting and analyzing crisis standards of care from different states.

Kaitlin Stober

Kaitlin Stober

Graduate Research Assistant

Kaitlin Stober is a PhD student in the Children, Youth, and Families concentration at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. She is interested in research that centers the voices, experiences, and perspectives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, particularly as these relate to inclusion in education and the community. Kaitlin serves as a Senior Research Specialist at the University of Illinois Chicago’s Institute on Disability and Human Development. There, she co-led the development of UIC’s Co-Op program, a fully inclusive and credit-bearing college program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She holds a MS in Disability Studies from Trinity College Dublin and a BA in Sociology and Art from Elon University.
Kartik Trivedi, Graduate Research Assistant

Kartik Trivedi

Graduate Research Assistant

Kartik Trivedi, MPA, is a PhD student interested in workplace inclusion, career pathways, and economic self-sufficiency as related to persons with disabilities. Kartik has several years of experience as a researcher in the workforce policy and inclusion. He has also worked as a researcher in development policies in India. If not in class or at work, you can find him taking photographs on the streets of Boston and surrounding areas. He also thinks that he makes the best chai on the east coast, a claim which is yet to be proven through conclusive research.

Photo of Mike Vetter, Graduate Research Assistant

Michael (Mike) Vetter

Graduate Research Assistant

Michael (Mike) Vetter is a doctoral student in the Health concentration. Prior to joining the doctoral program, Mike worked as a project specialist in Mass General Brigham’s Population Health Management department. Most recently, his research experience focused on outcomes and measures of strain and distress for persons living with dementia and their familial caregivers. Mike plans to expand on this by examining the health services utilization of unpaid family caregivers among Medicare and Medicaid populations. He completed a Master of Public Health degree at Tufts University in 2018 and a Master of Arts in sociocultural anthropology at Brandeis University in 2011.