Skip to content

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management (PPM)

Public Policy and Management Ph.D. Students

Virat Agrawal

Virat Agrawal

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected] | LinkedIn | Website

Education: Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering, USC; Bachelor of Technology in Biomedical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, India

Research Interests: Health Economics and Policy; Health-related Behavior and Consumption; Social Determinants of Health; Macro-level Shocks to Health (COVID-19, Inflation, Housing)

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Neeraj Sood

Drishti Baid

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected] | LinkedIn | Website 

Education: Master of Public Policy, University of Southern California; Bachelor of Social Science in Economics, National University of Singapore 

Research Interests: Health economics and policy, chronic disease prevention, patient preferences for novel treatments

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Darius Lakdawalla

Eliza Bennet

Eliza Bennett

[email protected]

Education: Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, Brigham Young University.

Research Interests: Gender and politics, and policy implementation.

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Pamela McCann

Andrew Barton

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected]

Education: Master of Education in Postsecondary Administration and Student Affairs; Bachelor of Arts in English, Minor in Theatre, University of Southern California

Research Interests: Civic engagement, deliberative democracy, political institutions, public organizations, publicness, higher education, and student affairs / student services

Faculty AdvisorDr. Bill Resh

Mandy Cui

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected]

Education: Bachelor of Science in Business Information Management & Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics, University of California, Irvine; Master of Business Analytics, University of California, San Diego

Research Interests: Economic costs of dementia and reducing caregiver burdens.

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Julie Zissimopoulos

Jordy Coutin

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected] 

Education: Master of Public Policy, USC; Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Bachelor of Science in Conservation and Resource Studies, University of California, Berkeley

Research Interests: Homelessness policy, local governance, social equity, criminal legal policy, housing policy, social policy, poverty, encampment sweeps, social determinants of health

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Juliet Musso

Brandon DeBruhl

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected] 

[email protected] | LinkedIn

Education: Master of Arts in International Relations and Affairs, Syracuse University; Master of Public Policy, USC; Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Seattle University

Research Interests: Administration of international public banking institutions, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrencies, regulatory systems

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Juliet Musso

Jiaqi Dong

[email protected]

Education: Bachelor of Science in Business and Finance and Interactive Media Arts, New York University Shanghai; Master of Urban Planning and a Master of Applied Urban Science and Informatics, New York University.

Research Interests: Neighborhood change, housing markets, urban economics, and urban information systems.

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Geoff Boeing

Jeimee Estrada-Miller

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected]

Education: Master of Public Policy, USC; Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, World Literature, University of California, Los Angeles

Research Interests: Education, poverty and housing, social problems, race, equity

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Gary Painter

Esther Gonzalez

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected] | LinkedIn | Website

Education: Master of Business Administration, Cornell University; Master of Public Administration, Cal Poly Pomona; Bachelor of Arts in International Development Studies, University of California, Los Angeles

Research Interests: Organizational Behavior, Representative Bureaucracy, Diversity Management

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Bill Resh

Jochelle Greaves Siew

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected] | LinkedIn | Twitter

Education: Master of Science in Public Policy and Administration, London School of Economics and Political Science; Bachelor of Law in International and European Law, University of Groningen 

Research Interests: Organizational theory and behavior, bureaucratic behavior, policy Implementation, emotional labor, small island developing states

Faculty Advisor: Dr. S. Yan Tang

James Hendrickson

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected] | LinkedIn

Education: Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy, University of Michigan

Research Interests: Judicial and gubernatorial decision-making, political institutions, equity, governance

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Pamela McCann

Sophia Helland

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected] | LinkedIn

Education: Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics with a dual degree in Economics, Claremont McKenna College

Research Interests:  American state policy and political institutions, women and public policy, reproductive policy, federalism

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Pamela McCann

Azka Imran

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected] | LinkedIn

Education: Master of Arts in Economics, City University of New York, Hunter College; Bachelor of Arts in Economics, City University of New York, Hunter College

Research Interests: Healthcare policy evaluation, maternal and child health, health disparities and equity

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Darius Lakdawalla

Saumya Khanna

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected] | LinkedIn

Education: Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs, concentration in International Economics, The George Washington University

Research Interests: Behavioral economics, consumer decision-making in the health insurance market, health care financing and incentives, Medicare and Medicaid

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Jason Doctor

Phillip Sangwoo Lee

Phillip Lee

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected] | LinkedIn

Education: Master of Public Policy, Master of Arts in Economics, University of Michigan; Bachelor of Science in Statistics and Psychology, Duke University

Research Interests: Environmental economics, environmental justice, renewable energy/energy security, sustainable development, clean technology adoption, behavioral economics

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Antonio Bento

Keunyoung (Eli) Lee

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected]| LinkedIn

Education: Master of Public Administration, USC; Master of Public Administration, Seoul National University; Bachelor of Arts in International Liberal Studies Psychology Track, Waseda University

Research Interests: Behavioral public administration, bureaucratic politics, agency reputation

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Bill Resh

Lizhong Liu

liu lizhong

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected] | LinkedIn

Education: Master of Public Policy, University of Chicago; Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration, Renmin University of China

Research Interests: Housing policy, housing market, urban economics, land use regulations, urban inequality

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Gary Painter

Zissis Marmarelis

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected] | LinkedIn

Education: Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering, USC  

Research Interests: Environmental economics, international relations, political economy, renewable energy, energy security, energy geopolitics, European Union

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Antonio Bento

Yi Ming

Ming Yi

[email protected]

Education: Bachelor of Science in Business Data Analytics, Arizona State University; Master of Data Science, University of Southern California, Master of Business Analytics, Boston University.

Research Interests: The intersection of Data Science and Public Management, focusing on the transformative potential of big data and AI in governance.

Faculty Advisor: Bill Resh

Jose Scott

Jose Scott

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected] | LinkedIn

Education: Master of Public Administration, USC; Bachelor of Arts in Public Affairs, Washington State University

Research Interests: Social and economic inequality, behavioral public policy, behavioral welfare economics, poverty alleviation policy, social policy

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Wändi Bruine de Bruin

Renzhi Shen

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected]

Education: Master of Public Policy, University of Southern California; Bachelor of Economics in Finance, Peking University; Bachelor of Science in Economics and French, Georgia Institute of Technology

Research Interests: Environmental policy, urban economics, transportation, public administration, behavioral economics, comparative politics

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Antonio Bento

Ann Song

Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management

[email protected]

Education: Master of Arts in International Studies, University of Denver; Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

Research Interests: Urban governance, urban resilience, risk analysis, disaster management, policy analysis, public administration

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Juliet Musso