Ph.D. Job Market Candidates
Several Pardee RAND students and recent alumni are actively pursuing employment opportunities. Prospective employers or executive recruiters are encouraged to contact them directly by email.
To view the profiles of all Pardee RAND students, visit our Students page.
For more information on recruiting at Pardee RAND, please contact our Career Development staff at (310) 393-0411, ext. 6742 or email prgscareers@rand.org.
Gulrez Shah Azhar
An MPH and Community Medicine physician, Gulrez has an interdisciplinary skill-set. He has explored issues of environmental health and climate change in developing countries. He has interned with World Health Organization and is an Aspen Institute fellow. Besides several research papers his opinion articles have been published across various platforms.
Dissertation Topic
Indian Summer: Three Essays on Heatwave Vulnerability, Estimation and Adaptation
Faculty Advisors
Gery Ryan (chair); Raffaele Vardavas; Jaime Madrigano
Carlos Ignacio Gutierrez
Carlos Ignacio's research focuses on the intersection of technology and policy. At RAND, he has worked on projects related to autonomous vehicles, the sharing economy, and studied the effect of HIV monitoring technology on medication adherence. Prior to RAND, he worked as a project manager where he designed, evaluated and assisted in the implementation of federal policies dealing with high added-value private sector development. He has lived in nine countries and is fluent in Spanish.
Dissertation Topic
Artificial Intelligence and Public Policy: A Systematic Review
Faculty Advisors
Dave Baiocchi (chair); Nidhi Kalra; William Welser; John Seely Brown
Jakub P. Hlávka
Jakub conducts research in health economics and technology policy. His dissertation studies novel outcome-based payment models for high-cost therapies, including gene therapy and specialty biologics. His project work addresses health care payment and reform, innovation and technology policy, advanced materials, international security and public-private partnerships.
Dissertation Topic
The Economics of a Cure: Assessing Innovative Payment Models for Breakthrough Pharmaceuticals
Faculty Advisors
Soeren Mattke (chair); Sarah Nowak; Dana Goldman
Ashley Muchow
Ashley’s research centers on public policy that affects low-income and vulnerable populations, with a focus on the nexus of immigration policy, criminal justice, and racial/ethnic inequality. Her dissertation builds on theories of social stratification and neighborhood effects to examine how modern immigration policy affects the outcomes of undocumented immigrants and immigrant communities.
Dissertation Topic
Enforced exclusion: Three essays on the social and economic consequences of modern immigration policy
Faculty Advisors
Lynn Karoly (chair); Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes; Robert Bozick
Adeyemi Okunogbe
Adeyemi Okunogbe’s research focuses on health economics and financing in Sub-Saharan Africa. His dissertation studies the impact of health insurance in Nigeria, examines sub-optimal health insurance enrolment and assesses the performance of national health financing systems. Other research areas include result-based financing, health provider behavior and global public health preparedness.
Dissertation Topic
Essays on Health Financing in Sub-Saharan Africa
Faculty Advisors
Peter Hussey (chair); Edward Okeke; Diana Bowser
Julia Pollak
Julia conducts research on labor and behavioral economics, market design, and governance. Her dissertation studies variation in voter turnout across different population groups and explores the effects of politics, state policies, and poverty. Her RAND project work primarily addresses military manpower issues, defense acquisition policy, and military intelligence.
Dissertation Topic
Turnout Inequality: The Role of Politics, Policies, and Poverty
Faculty Advisors
Michael Rich (chair); Katherine Grace Carman; Jennifer Kavanagh
Gabriel Weinberger
Gabriel is studying the implementation, at the local level, of various major changes to California's criminal justice system in how it deals with drug use. These changes include liberalization of marijuana policies, Public Safety Realignment, and Proposition 47. He is interested in how the criminal justice system affects disadvantaged populations.
Dissertation Topic
3 Essays on California's Changes to How Its Criminal Justice System Addresses Drug Use
Faculty Advisors
Rosalie Pacula (chair); Priscillia Hunt; Sarah Hunter