Alumni News & Announcements

Alum Examines 7 Possible Outcomes of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Apr 22, 2020

If not two states, then what? Shira Efron (cohort '11), lead author of the Israel Policy Forum report “In Search of a Viable Option,” joined her coauthor to discuss seven potential outcomes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict evaluated in the study.
Alum Examines Impacts of Segregation on Obesity Risk Among Hispanic Americans
Apr 22, 2020

The relationship between segregation and health for Hispanics is not uniform within a metropolitan area, according to research by D. Phuong "Phoenix" Do (cohort '00). Immigrants and U.S.-born Hispanics living in segregated neighborhoods have different risks of obesity depending on poverty level.
Alum Reviews Inexpensive Options to Mitigate Pandemic Risk
Apr 21, 2020

A year before the COVID-19 pandemic began, David Manheim (cohort '12) examined interventions that could significantly reduce the impact of a large-scale pandemic by reducing transmission, reducing exposure, reducing impact for those infected, and increasing large scale resilience.
Alum Reports Findings of Early Tests: 4% of L.A. County Adults Have Antibody
Apr 21, 2020

An ongoing study led by Neeraj Sood (cohort '99) found that only 4 percent of the adult population of Los Angeles County has been infected with the novel coronavirus, "which means we are very early in the epidemic, and many more people in L.A. County could potentially be infected."
Alum Discusses Importance of Business Innovation in Pandemic Response
Apr 20, 2020

"We always have a full pipeline of projects that we're working on for innovation," said alum Jamie Gayton, (cohort '06) executive vice president of PenFed Credit Union, about his organization's response to COVID-19. "Innovation is the lifeblood of a credit union, it's what keeps us going into the future."
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Alum: Elections and International Affairs in the Time of Coronavirus
Apr 17, 2020

In a roundtable discussion titled "Korea on the World Stage," Myong-Hyun Go (cohort '04), a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, explored a range of issues that Korea is facing, including COVID-19, the general election of 2020, and the ROK-U.S. alliance.
Alum Urges Congress to Include IT Modernization Funding in Future Rescue Bills
Apr 17, 2020

"The COVID-19 pandemic has created a significant strain on many of the federal, state, and local government resources across the United States that people depend on every day," said alum Gordon Bitko (cohort '02), senior vice president of policy, public sector at the Information Technology Industry Council. ITI was one of five tech trade groups that signed an open letter to Congress.
Alum Asks, Can Globalization Survive the Current Health Pandemic?
Apr 17, 2020

Jeremy Ghez (cohort '06) identifies four principles of globalization and says a reversal of any of them "would be a game-changer that would challenge some of the foundations of globalization as we know it today."
Alum Examines Restarting International Travel in Time of COVID-19
Apr 17, 2020

As many governments start to lift their domestic pandemic mitigation measures, greater attention will turn to restrictions on international travel. Jakub Hlavka (cohort '14) asks, How quickly should we want and expect those restrictions to be lifted?
Alum Offers Recommendations for Rapid Release and Reentry During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Apr 15, 2020

Alum Angela Hawken (cohort '98), program director at the Litmus program at the NYU Marron Institute, has conducted research on early release from prison since 2016. Since early March 2020, Litmus has been working with justice agencies nationwide to learn how jails, prisons, and community corrections are responding to COVID-19.
Alum Explores Transitions Into and Out of the WIC Program
Apr 15, 2020

In the journal Social Science Review, Alison Jacknowitz (cohort '99) finds that family participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children only during an infant's first year of life is generally consistent with economic need and may not be a cause for concern.
WSJ Quotes Alum on White-Collar Unemployment
Apr 14, 2020

Julia Pollak (cohort '12), a labor economist for ZipRecruiter, explains why few are safe from the second round of coronavirus layoffs: “Any company that had been planning to open a second location, that hired an architect, an office designer, and contractor—they’re not opening that location this year and those people now won’t have jobs."
On Podcast, Alum Discusses Future of AI and Autonomous Systems
Apr 14, 2020

Yuna Wong (cohort '00) describes what led her to research Deterrence in the Age of Thinking Machines: "When U.S. drones are shot down, it's not the same as if U.S. pilots are killed or held captive... We have U.S. forces abroad whose presence deters adversaries from attacking U.S. allies, but would it be the same if they were just destroying some machines?"
Student: Pandemic Will Add to Struggles of Smaller Cannabis Businesses
Apr 13, 2020

NBC quoted Steven Davenport (cohort '15) about the lack of federal relief for cannabis store owners: "Small businesses who can't afford to endure longer periods of low prices or disruptions in revenues will probably look to be acquired in order to preserve their financial health."
Alum: COVID-19 Offers Chance to Study the Impact of Sex and Gender
Apr 13, 2020

Much of current medical evidence is based largely on men, writes alum Denise Quigley (cohort '91) with RAND colleagues. The current COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique opportunity to examine the potential value of asking questions about sex and gender differences to inform ongoing policy decisions.
Alum: Correcting this Faulty Belief about COVID-19 Will Save Lives
Apr 13, 2020

"The health conditions that can complicate COVID-19 aren't unique to the elderly," writes alum Ken Thorpe (cohort '80), . "Heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, lung disease, and asthma all impact younger and middle-aged people, too." Thorpe is professor of health policy at Emory University and chairman of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease.
Alum Leads USC Effort to Test for Coronavirus Antibodies
Apr 13, 2020

Neeraj Sood (cohort '99) is leading a USC study with L.A. County to test the blood of 1,000 randomly selected individuals for COVID-19 antibodies. “The test will provide fundamental information about the deadliness of the disease, if policy measures like social distancing are working, and also how long the pandemic is likely to last,” he said.
Alum on Why Twice as Many Black D.C. Residents Have COVID-19 as Their White Peers
Apr 9, 2020

Alum Janice Blanchard (cohort '98), an associate professor of emergency medicine at George Washington University Hospital who studies racial disparities in U.S. healthcare: “Social distancing is very hard to do … when you have to get on a bus every day to go to work.”
Defense Budget Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Apr 7, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic is taking a dramatic toll on the U.S. economy. This could have significant medium-term implications for the U.S. defense budget. The U.S. Department of Defense will need to find efficiencies that are of at least the same magnitude as the recent sequestration.
Alum and Student Examine Security Risks of China's Investments in Israel
Apr 7, 2020

Chinese investments in Israeli high-tech companies and major infrastructure projects present distinct concerns for Israel and the United States, according to research by alum Shira Efron (cohort '11) and student Emily Haskell ('16). They could lead to leaks of sensitive technology and cyberespionage. And these risks could affect the U.S.-Israel relationship.