In an effort to increase diversity in health economics, the American Society of Health Economists (ASHEcon) is offering scholarships aimed at underrepresented minorities and/or individuals whose background or life circumstances indicate they have overcome substantial obstacles (e.g., first generation college student, disabled individuals, racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQIA+ individuals). The scholarships enable the recipients to attend the annual ASHEcon conference, where they will have the opportunity to network with each other and with members of the ASHEcon Board and Diversity Committee, recognizing them, their accomplishments and bright futures.
Congratulations to the 2025 Recipients!
Abdulazize Wolle
University at Albany, SUNY
Abdulazize is a PhD student in Economics at the University at Albany, SUNY. Originally from Ethiopia, he previously researched the health and nutrition impacts of nutrition-sensitive agricultural programs in Ethiopia. His work emphasizes vulnerable populations, mainly focusing on the effects of economic and public policies on maternal and infant health. His current research examines the nutrition and health implications of the food environment, food access, and consumption behaviors.
Anthony Roberts
Brown University School of Public Health
Anthony (Tony) Roberts is a PhD candidate in Health Services Research at Brown University and a Health Economics and Outcomes Research Fellow at Medtronic. With experiences at Alcon, IQVIA, and MITRE, his career focuses on studying medical technologies and addressing healthcare disparities. He earned his MS in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Minnesota and BS in Biomedical Engineering from Northern Illinois University. Outside work, Tony enjoys traveling, exploring new cuisines, and supporting Chicago sports teams.
Ashley Rojas
University of South Carolina
Ashley Rojas is a first-generation Latina in her third-year of the Economics PhD program at the University of South Carolina. Her interests in racial disparities and immigration policy are fueled by her lived experiences, as she has seen first-hand the consequences that immigration enforcement has on affected communities. Outside of research, Ashley spends time mentoring younger first-generation students who come from similar backgrounds as they enter the unknown world of higher education. When she is not working, you can find her lifting weights, playing tennis, or watching Survivor!
Belén Hervera
Weill Cornell Medicine
Belén Hervera, MPH is a PhD student in Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine, specializing in substance use health economics and policy. Once an undocumented child who journeyed from Santiago, Chile to Miami, FL and now to NYC for her PhD, Belén’s unique experiences have fueled her dedication to addressing health disparities and the economic and societal impacts of substance use. Her work aims to transform these insights into effective health policies, striving to empower and create impactful change in underserved communities.
Caroline Welter
West Virginia University, Department of Economics
Caroline Welter is a Ph.D. candidate in Economics at West Virginia University (WVU), analyzing how policies shape labor markets, healthcare utilization, and regional resilience. Her job market paper examines the effects of Social Security office closures on disability applications, highlighting barriers to access. She also studies urban development costs, regional economic impacts, and health policy shifts using applied microeconomics and causal inference. Caroline holds an M.A. in Economics from WVU and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Western Paraná State University in Brazil.
Drishti Baid
University of Southern California, Sol Price School of Public Policy
Drishti Baid is a Predoctoral Researcher at the USC Schaeffer Center and a PhD Candidate at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. Her prior research focusses on methodological issues pertaining to cost-effectiveness analyses, measurement of patient preferences, value-based pricing, and health outcomes research. Baid earned a BA in Economics at the National University of Singapore in 2017 and a Master in Public Policy at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy in 2024. Before starting graduate school, she worked on several academic research projects evaluating the societal impacts of chronic diseases as a Senior Research Analyst at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore.
Favour Olarewaju
University of Memphis
Favour Olarewaju is a rising 5th year PhD student at the University of Memphis with research interests in applied microeconomic areas of public policy and health/labor economics. Having received several competitive scholarships to conference presentations including the ASHEcon, American Economic Association (AEA), WEAI, NBER, SEA and Association of Social &Behavioral Scientists (ASBS), she bags multiple awards from her school -Program/Track Outstanding Student Award, Graduate Student Association 20 under 35 Award, and external certificates of reviewing.
Ibrahima Dieye
Harvard University
Ibou is a doctoral candidate in Health Policy at Harvard, specializing in Health Economics. His research focuses on policies and interventions aimed at achieving Universal Health Coverage in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly their impact on health outcomes, access to care, and financial protection. Before Harvard, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Macalester College in 2017, majoring in Applied Mathematics and Economics with a minor in Computer Science. He then spent four years at Analysis Group (AG) as a Data Scientist.
Jiangnan Liao
University College London
Jiangnan Liao is a PhD candidate in Economics at University College London and a research officer at the Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration since 2021. Her research focuses on health and labour economics, with a particular interest in inequalities in mental health and labour market outcomes.
Kathya Tapia-Schythe
UC Davis
Kathya Tapia-Schythe is a fourth-year female PhD candidate in the economics department at UC Davis. Originally from Chile, she is a first-generation student. Kathya holds a master’s degree in economics, and is passionate about using data to evaluate public policies and understand its implications, and coding in Stata. She enjoys spending her free time with her dog and watching movies.
Lady Ikeya
Indiana University, O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Lady Ikeya is a Ph.D. candidate at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Her research focuses on the intersection of long-term care policy and public finance, examining how state policies impact health outcomes in long-term care settings and how tax policy changes influence state revenue and expenditure decisions. Her work bridges health economics and fiscal policy, with a particular interest in the effects of government interventions on both patient well-being and state financial management.
Towo Babayemi
Harvard University
Towo Helena Babayemi is a PhD candidate in Health Policy at Harvard University and a Dissertation Fellow in the Health Analysis Division of the Congressional Budget Office. Her research focuses on Medicaid policy, health insurance markets, and the intersection of immigration and healthcare access. She has contributed to policy reports and peer-reviewed publications on healthcare access, quality measurement, and disparities in care delivery. Previously, she was a Senior Public Health Analyst at Economist Impact, where she worked on global health policy initiatives. She has also held research roles at Harvard Medical School, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and The University of Texas Health Science Center. Towo holds an MPH in Healthcare Management from The University of Texas Health Science Center and a BS in Neuroscience from The University of Texas at Dallas.
Hyunkyung Yun
Brown University
Hyunkyung (Yulia) Yun is a PhD candidate in Health Services, Policy & Practice at Brown University. She worked at South Korea’s National Health Insurance Services for over eight years as a project manager investigating fraudulent provider claims and as a research analyst for the national long-term care insurance system. Her research evaluates policies and delivery systems for older adults, employing quantitative methods to study clinician practices in nursing homes, ownership performance, and Medicare program impacts.
Martin Kyalwazi
University of California Los Angeles
Martin Kyalwazi is an MD-PhD student in the Department of Health Policy and Management (Economics Concentration) at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and the David Geffen School of Medicine. His research focuses on Medicaid innovation and exploring the impact of consolidation on access, quality, and equity. He is currently conducting an intention-to-treat analysis of a national randomized care coordination program’s impact on major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Kyalwazi holds a bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from Columbia University.
Sadichchha Shrestha
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Sadichchha Shrestha is a Ph.D. candidate in Economics at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Her research focuses on environmental, health, and development economics, with a particular interest in the economic impacts of environmental crises.
Saleem Shah
Clark University
Saleem Shah is a Ph.D. candidate in Economics at Clark University. His research explores the persistent role of institutions, culture, and traditional practices in shaping health and development outcomes, as well as the impact of public policies on healthcare access and health outcomes. He holds MS and BS degrees in Economics from the Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, Pakistan, both earned with distinction. Before joining Clark, he worked as a lecturer and research fellow in Pakistan. Outside of academia, he enjoys traveling, sports, and cooking.
Tolulope Oladele
University of Kentucky
As a University of Kentucky Health Economics doctoral candidate, Tolulope Oladele investigates maternal health disparities and Medicaid policies. Her background is in clinical medicine, policy development, and implementation. Her work has been at the federal level, working with bilateral and multilateral agencies to drive policy development, implementation and evaluation for maternal health programs. Leveraging over two decades of obstetrics, gynecology, and global public health experience, Tolulope’s research seeks to translate evidence into equitable healthcare policy.
Yolunda Nabors
Ohio State University
Yolunda is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Economics at Ohio State University. Her primary research interests focus on mental health and social status, particularly as they relate to vulnerable and marginalized populations. She earned her Ph.D. in Economics from Middle Tennessee State University in 2023 while working as a Senior Lecturer in Economics at Tennessee Technological University. She also holds a Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (2010).
Md Shahadath Hossain
University of Houston
Md Shahadath Hossain is an Instructional Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Houston. His research focuses on health economics in low-income settings, particularly early-childhood interventions. He uses quasi-experimental methods to inform policies that promote equitable access to healthcare and foster human capital development. His current work examines the effect of institutional births on child mortality, the protective role of parental involvement in children’s mental health, and the long-term benefits of childhood measles vaccination.
Michael Nguyen-Mason
Harvard University
Michael Nguyen-Mason is a PhD candidate in Health Policy and Economics at Harvard. Before Harvard Michael received his BA at UC Berkeley where he worked as an RA studying the role of competition in health insurance markets. Since coming to Harvard his interests have turned to the intersection of innovation, entrepreneurship, and equity with a particular interest in the early stage of investment in biotech innovation. Michael is an NSF scholar and is advised by committee members Leila Agha, Luca Maini, and Josh Lerner.