Directory Profile

Originally from Haïti, I am an Associate Professor of Sociology  at the University of Washington. Previously, I spent ten years at the University of Minnesota at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and the Minnesota Population Center.

My research agenda centers on how human population dynamics and behavior intersect with the environment to affect health. I describe demographic and health patterns and attempt to identify causal factors responsible for these patterns. My work falls into three main research strands. First, I examine the impacts of early life exposures (i.e., climate/disease/nutrition) on health both in the United States and in Sub-Saharan Africa. Second, I analyze how human behavior and population dynamics affect the spread and severity of infectious diseases. Third, I study spatial demography and urbanization, with a focus on health and climate change vulnerability. My research has been published in Population Development Review, Demography, Population Health Metrics, Biodemography and Social Biology, Demographic Research, and PLoS ONE.