About me

I am a Senior Data Research Scientist at the Center for Social Norms and Behavioral Dynamics of the University of Pennsylvania. I am also affiliated with the Population Studies Center, the Population Aging Research Center, the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, and the Center for Global Health

My work focuses on the social nature of health behavior. I currently spend most of my time working with the Penn Social Norms Group on understanding the social patterns of latrine use in India. As part of this project, I develop survey materials, supervise data collection, and conduct social network analysis to better understand the flow of infornation about the benefits of better sanitation practices and the availability of resources for latrine construction. My other work centers on how friends and family (in particular, spouses) can contribute to better health behaviors and health outcomes.

I received my PhD in Demography and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. I also hold an MA in Statistics from the Wharton School.

Before coming to Penn, my main interests were historical demography and social and kin networks. I have been working in the field of historical demography since 2007 and have published several papers and book chapters about Moscow population. At Penn, my interests shifted to understanding the educational gradient in health and mortality, specifically at the intersection with the sociology of the family and social networks. It is my resolution to be able to devote more time to this interest of mine. I am planning to start posting on this and other topics on my personal blog Pamada.net.

My hobbies are literature (especially modern poetry) and foreign languages. I am fluent in Russian, English, and French, have conversational knowledge of German, Dutch, Polish, Ukrainian, and Estonian, and am currently learning Chinese and Hindi.