Director
Christina A. Roberto, PH.D.
Christina A. Roberto, Ph.D. is the Mitchell J. Blutt and Margo Krody Blutt Presidential Associate Professor of Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also an Associate Director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics at Penn. Dr. Roberto is a psychologist and epidemiologist whose research aims to identify and understand factors that promote unhealthy eating behaviors and design interventions to improve eating habits. In her work, she draws upon the fields of psychology, behavioral economics, epidemiology, and public health to answer research questions that can provide policymakers and institutions with science-based guidance. Dr. Roberto has an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Princeton University where she graduated magna cum laude. She earned a joint-PhD at Yale University in clinical psychology and chronic disease epidemiology. Dr. Roberto completed her clinical internship at the Yale School of Medicine and was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Deputy Director
Laura Gibson, PH.D.
Laura Gibson is a Research Assistant Professor of Medical Ethics & Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests focus on how to make effective public health interventions with the capacity to improve the health of large numbers of people. From 2010-2018, she worked at the Annenberg School for Communication and was primarily involved in the development and evaluation of anti-tobacco mass media campaigns.
Project Coordinator
Abeselom Gebreyesus
Abeselom received his B.A. in Health Administration & Policy from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and is an M.P.H. candidate at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests include public health messaging, translational research, and global health policy. Outside of work, Abeselom enjoys playing soccer with friends, photography, and traveling to new places.
Project Coordinator
Jonathan Muruako, M.P.H.
Jonathan received his B.A. in Biological Basis of Behavior and M.P.H. from the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently obtaining a M.BE. also from the University of Pennsylvania. His interests lie at the intersection of health equity and public health innovation. In his spare time, Jonathan enjoys reading, exercising, and discovering new music and ideas.
Data Scientist
Youjin Lee, Ph.D.
Youjin Lee is a Manning Assistant Professor in the Department of Biostatistics at Brown University’s School of Public Health and is collaborating with the PEACH Lab as a data scientist. Her primary areas of research interests are causal inference, social networks, and observational studies. Dr. Lee is interested in developing new statistical and causal inference methods under settings where standard assumptions do not hold. She is currently working on estimating the spillover effects of a policy intervention. Dr. Lee received her PhD in Biostatistics from Johns Hopkins University and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania.
Project Manager
Eva Fabian, M.P.H.
Eva is a project manager for the PEACH and Opportunity for Health labs. She received her Bachelor of Science in Physiology at San Francisco State University, and her M.P.H in Epidemiology at The Ohio State University. Her experience includes epidemiological work with the State of Ohio, the Border Infectious Disease Surveillance Program in San Diego, Veterans Administration, and most recently worked as an epidemiologist for the City of New York throughout the COVID pandemic. Her research interests have long been related to nutrition and improving access to healthy foods in rural areas. In her spare time Eva enjoys pottery, trying new recipes, traveling, and spending time with her 2 dogs.
Fieldwork Coordinator
Aaliyah Randall, M.A.
Aaliyah received her B.S in Psychology from Syracuse University and received her M.A in Psychology from Boston University. Her research interests include community-based translation research, which directly helps marginalized communities that suffer due to health inequality, and researching ways to promote health equity among those communities. In her free time, she likes to take her dog to the park, try new restaurants with her friends, and ride her bike.
Administrative Coordinator
Sandy Tran
Sandy is an Administrative Coordinator for the Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy, the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE), and the PEACH Lab. She directly supports faculty members Laura Gibson, PhD and Christina Roberto, PhD. She graduated with a B.A. in Sociology: Law & Society from the University of California, San Diego. She also received an A.A in the Administration of Justice from Glendale Community College, Los Angeles. She previously worked in defense at General Atomics Systems Integration and in real estate for a San Diego’s Top 100 realtor.
Students and Mentees
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Sophia Hua, M.P.H.
Sophia is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research interests lie in nutrition policy and obesity prevention interventions that change the food environment. Before starting her PhD, she worked as a project coordinator at the PEACH Lab. During her time there, she primarily focused on a large-scale evaluation of the Philadelphia Beverage Tax, a menu label messaging study, and an RCT testing the effects of nutrition messaging on vending machines. She received her B.S. in psychology and her M.P.H. in social and behavioral sciences from Yale University.
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Aviva Musicus, Sc.D.
Dr. Musicus is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she studies how food-related policy affects human health and behavior. Her particular research interests include the evaluation of proposed policies involving food labeling and marketing, cost-effectiveness analysis, and the intersection of nutrition and environmental sustainability. Dr. Musicus has an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from Yale University and a doctorate in Nutrition from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She previously worked at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, where she advocated for policies to curb consumption of sugary drinks, reduce sodium in the food supply, eliminate trans fats, and strengthen agricultural biotechnology regulations. In her free time, Aviva enjoys rock climbing, backpacking, and carving fruit sculptures.
Research Assistants
Allison Dubinsky
Allison received her B.S. in Psychology with minors in Chemistry and Linguistics from the University of Pittsburgh. She works on the Food Pantry Study, primarily communicating with the Russian speaking population, and her research interests include preventative healthcare measures as well as mental health. In her free time she likes to read, cook, and spend time with family and friends.
Chinyere Anucha
Chinyere is senior Health and Societies major at the University of Pennsylvania. She is passionate about health policy and hopes to make meaningful contributions to the improvement of public health in the Philadelphia area, where she was raised. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, creative writing, and watching movies.
Gabby Maramag
Gabby is a senior psychology major at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. Her research focus is on family systems and couple dynamics, and their inter-relatedness with diversity, health, illness, and treatment. Gabby's current obsessions include poke bowls, pottery, Robert Sapolsky, and personality typology.
Liliia Basalyk
Liliia received her Master Degree in Economics from Friedrich Schiller University of Jena in Germany. Her research interests include innovations and their impact on development in cross-cultural environment. In spare time Liliia enjoys playing tennis, swimming, and spending time with her dog.
