Team directory
Team directory
Danielle Petrafesa, Financial Assistant
Address: 24 Hillhouse Avenue
Phone: 203-432-9736
Email: danielle.petrafesa@yale.edu;
Benjamin Polak, William C Brainard Professor of Economics; Professor of Management
Professor Polak is an expert on decision theory, game theory, and economic history. His work explores economic agents whose goals are richer than those captured in traditional models. His work on game theory ranges from foundational theoretical work on common knowledge, to applied topics in corporate finance and law and economics. Most recently, he has made contributions to the theory of repeated games with asymmetric information. Other research interests include economic inequality and individuals’ responses to uncertainty.
Yuting Qian, ISPS Graduate Policy Fellow 2025
Yuting Qian is a Ph.D candidate in the Department of Health Policy and Management, with a concentration in Economics. She holds an MS in Health Policy and Economics from Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University. Her research interests include public policies and the health of the aging population, particularly people with cognitive impairment. Her current work examines disparities in dementia diagnosis and the impact of diagnosis on the health and economic well-being of older adults.
Deewa Rahim, ISPS Director's Fellow 2025
Deewa Rahim is a sophomore in Timothy Dwight College majoring in Political Science and pursuing a certificate in Persian and Iranian Studies. Her interests include immigration policy, education policy, and the intersection between the two. Since moving to New Haven, she’s been involved with the IRIS Youth Leadership Program and is passionate about serving the immigrant community. On campus, Deewa is actively involved in the Yale International Relations Association and works at the Middle Eastern & North African Cultural Community.
Eli Rau, Postdoctoral Associate
Eli Rau is a postdoctoral associate with the Democratic Innovations program at ISPS and the Leitner Program in International and Comparative Political Economy. His primary areas of research include comparative electoral institutions, voter turnout, and democratic erosion. In current research projects, he examines the link between economic inequality and democratic erosion; whether compulsory voting is good for democracy; and how norms of reciprocity can enable democratic erosion even in the absence of strong partisanship.
Shir Raviv, External Postdoctoral Associate (Columbia University)
Shir Raviv is a political scientist who studies the politics of using AI in public policy implementation. She employs experimental methods to investigate how citizens perceive and react to the use of data-driven algorithms in high-stakes domains such as criminal justice, policing, welfare, and education. She also examines how their views change after receiving information or having personal experience with the technology. Before joining Columbia University in September 2023, Dr. Raviv earned her Ph.D. and M.A.
Jennifer Richeson, Philip R. Allen Professor of Psychology
Jennifer Richeson is the Philip R. Allen Professor of Psychology and a faculty fellow with ISPS. Her research examines multiple psychological phenomena related to cultural diversity. For instance, she examines how people experience racial and other forms of societal diversity, be it efforts to navigate one-on-one interracial interactions or the political consequences of the increasing racial/ethnic diversity of the United States.
Laila Robbins, Yale College, History
Laila Robbins is a junior at Yale studying History with a focus on pathologization. At Yale Law School, she currently researches discretionary sentencing enhancements for repeat drug offenders. Previously, Laila interned for Honorable Katherine B. Forrest (U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York). On campus, as Vice President of the Yale Undergraduate Prison Project, Laila mentors inmates at a Connecticut prison and facilitates re-entry initiatives in New Haven.
John Roemer, Elizabeth S. and A. Varick Stout Professor of Political Science and Economics
John Roemer is the Elizabeth S. and A. Varick Professor of Political Science and Economics. He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society, and has been a Fellow of the Guggenheim Foundation and the Russell Sage Foundation. His research concerns political economy, and distributive justice. He is currently teaching Political Competition and a Workshop in Political Economy. Publications include: Political Competition, Harvard University Press, 2001; Equality of Opportunity, Harvard University Press, 1998, Theories of Distributive Justice, Harvard University Press, 1996.
Doug Rogers, Professor of Anthropology and Faculty Director of the Program in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies
Douglas Rogers is Professor of Anthropology and Faculty Director of the Program in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies at Yale University. His research and teaching interests in political and economic anthropology; natural resources (especially oil) and energy; corporations; the anthropology of religion and ethics; historical anthropology; and socialist societies and their postsocialist trajectories.