ABOUT ME

I am a Health Economist who focuses on addressing limited resources and health inequity altogether. I am currently an Assistant Professor (Tenure-track) in Health Economics at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health. By leveraging large-scale datasets and decision modeling for economic evaluation, I aim to uncover meaningful insights into the social determinants of health and the cost-effectiveness of interventions.
"Sustainable & Inclusive Health Improvement"
My research interests are HPV-associated cancers and prevention; LGBTQIA+ health; health inequity; and multi-level social determinants of health. I am especially interested in using inequality index measures and distributional cost-effectiveness analysis for addressing health inequities.
My background before coming to the Public Health field is in Economics (Master's) and Business Administration (Bachelor). I also was involved in Medical Law & Ethics research during and after my undergrad. I have a solid background in Economic theories I obtained over my Business and Economics majors, and I could build more applied Health Economics skills upon that during my PhD training. I am an (interdisciplinary) social scientist.
I am an avid weight-trainer, and I love training in martial arts (Taekwondo, Muay Thai), planting, and K-pop. I also host virtual writing retreats and support academic writings in a global organization ("Advancing Gender/Ethnic/Class Minorities in Academia"), where I discuss/learn how to create more inclusion, equity, and diversity and interact with fellow academics worldwide. I am a Seoul (Korea) native. I use They/She pronouns.



EDUCATION
2018 - 2020
University of Texas Health Science Center
PhD in Health Economics
2016 - 2018
University of Florida
PhD student in Health Services, Management and Policy - Transferred due to advisor's transfer to UTHealth
2013 - 2016
University of Utah
MS in Economics
2000 - 2006
Korea University (Seoul, Korea)
Bachelor in Business Administration
(with Pre-Law curriculum)

Photo from SMDM 2022 Annual Meeting Symposium, as a speaker, Oct 2022
"Increasing the visibility of LGBTQIA+ health data as well as LGBTQIA+ researchers in Health Economics."

Photo from PRIDEnet Researcher Basecamp, filming testinomial, Mar 2023
"My passion for HPV-associated cancer prevention in the LGBTQIA+ community"