Zohra Ansari-Thomas, MPH

Zohra Ansari-Thomas, MPH is a PhD candidate in Demography and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, and an affiliated student with the Max Planck Research School for Population, Health, and Data Science. Her research uses quantitative methods to draw connections between migration, racial/ethnic stratification, family dynamics, and inequalities in health and socioeconomic well-being. Ansari-Thomas’s scholarship falls into three broad categories: 1) the social determinants of health and aging, 2) family formation patterns and implications for life trajectories, and 3) structures and institutions of aging-related care and their impacts on both care recipients and caregivers. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Journal of Aging and Health, Journal of Comparative Family Studies, Demographic Research, and Contraception. The aim of her research is to inform social policy and practices to reduce health and socioeconomic inequalities among marginalized groups, and to challenge the social and legal institutions which uphold these inequalities. Ansari-Thomas is currently working on several projects pertaining to aging and care work, which address gender dynamics in care work, racial and immigrant exclusion in long-term care options, and caregiving provided by aging individuals themselves.