Teaching

Hans-Peter Kohler - University of Pennsylvania

Training the next Generation.

I teach demography and quantitative methods in Penn's Department of Sociology and Graduate Group in Demography. I have mentored doctoral and post-doctoral researchers since becoming head of the research group at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in 1997. My extensive mentoring of doctoral and post-doctoral students has continued at Penn, where I have chaired or served on more than 25 dissertation committees. Recent doctoral students/post-docs have been appointed to tenure-track or tenured faculty positions at John Hopkins University, NYU Abu-Dhabi, University of Wisconsin, University College London, University of Glasgow, Australian National University, McGill University.

I have been the PI of Penn's NICHD T32 training grant in demography, and I have been chair of the Graduate Group in Demography. I co-direct the Get Experience in Aging Research (Gear UP) undergraduate training program in aging, and have integrated graduate & undergraduate students in fieldwork and research of the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health.

University of Pennsylvania.

Graduate Group in Demography

I am member of Penn's Graduate Group in Demography (GGD) that trains independent researchers for leading roles in population analysis. This is achieved through (i) intensive instruction in the methods, theoretical approaches, and empirical substance of demography and allied disciplines; (ii) progressive incorporation of students into faculty research activities; and (iii) subsequent branching into independent research. Demography is, at its core, the science of the growth and structure of human populations. The field lies at the nexus of several disciplines and is scientifically relevant to social and health policies in the U.S. and abroad. I have directed the GGD for many years, and mentor many GGD students during their studies and dissertation research.

Course:

Soci/Demg 7860: Demographic, Economic and Social Interrelations (Syllabus)

Sociology

I am faculty in Penn's Department of Sociology, one of the oldest departments of sociology in the country that has a long and proud tradition of research and training in demography, domestic and global. I contribute to both the graduate and undergraduate program through mentoring and the courses on demography, health, and quantitative methods.

Courses:

Soci 5350: Quantitative Methods I (Syllabus)
Soci 2220: Health of Populations (Syllabus)

Get Experience in Aging Research

I co-direct Penn's Get Experience in Aging Research (GearUP) program (with N. Coe and R. Werner), a joint initiative of the Population Aging Research Center (PARC) and the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics (LDI). As a new training initiative of PARC funded by NIA R25 AG069719, the GearUP program provides a 15-month sustained fellowship program in the demography and economics of aging and health care for undergraduates students who are interested in a career in aging research. I contribute to GearUP's curriculum and regularly mentor Gear UP students during their research internship at Penn. Learn more about GearUP at https://www.aging.upenn.edu/training

Post-Docs and Visitors.

I regularly mentor post-docs and visitors at PARC or the MLSFH. Current/recent post-docs and visitors include:

Helene Purcell

Helene Purcell is part of the MLSFH team working on lifecourse determinants of health, global aging, cognition and ADRD, including extensive contributions to MLSFH study design and fieldwork implementation in Malawi. Joint publications include:

Purcell, H., I.V. Kohler, A. Ciancio, J. Mwera, A. Delavande, V. Mwapasa and H.-P. Kohler (2024). Mortality risk information and health seeking behavior during an epidemic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(28): e2315677121.

Namrata Ray

Namrata Ray is part of the MLSFH team working on cognition and the expansion of the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) to Malawi. A recent joint paper is:

Ray, N. et al. (2024). Cognitive aging across the life course in a low-income context: Evidence from Malawi. Manuscript in preparation.

Fabrice Kämpfen

Fabrice Kämpfen (University of Dublin) visited Penn as a Ph.D. student and post-doc, contributing to both MLSFH data collections and analyses across a broad range of MLSFH priority topics. He is now XX at the University of Dublin, and remains a close collaborator of the MLSFH. Two examples of many joint papers include:

Kohler, I.V., F. Kämpfen, C. Bandawe and H.-P. Kohler (2023). Cognition and cognitive changes in a low-income sub-Saharan African aging population. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 95(1): 195-212.
Ciancio, A., F. Kämpfen, H.-P. Kohler and R. Thornton (2024). Surviving Bad News: Health Information without Treatment Options. American Economic Review: Insights, 19(1): 2335356.

Alberto Ciancio

After graduating from Penn's Economics program, Alberto Ciancio (U of Glasgow) joined the MLSFH as a post-doc, making extensive contributions to data collections and analyses of mortality perception, HIV risk, the lifecourse determinants of health and aging and more recently, the political economy of MLSFH study villages. Alberto is now at the University of Glasgow, and remains a close collaborator of the MLSFH. Two examples of many joint papers include:

Ciancio, A., A. Delavande, H.-P. Kohler and I.V. Kohler (2024). Mortality Risk Information, Survival Expectations and Sexual Behaviours. Economic Journal, 134(660): 1431-1464.
Ciancio, A., F. Kämpfen, H.-P. Kohler, and I.V. Kohler (2021). Health Screening for Emerging Non-Communicable Disease Burdens among the Global Poor: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Health Economics 75:102388.

Ewa Batyra

Ewa Batyra (Center for Demographic Studies, U of Barcelona) was a postdoc on the Global Family Change (GFC) Project, studying the transition to adulthood, fertility and union formation in a global comparative perspective. Joint publications include:

Batyra, E., M. Luca Pesando, Andrés F. Castro, F.F. Furstenberg, and H.-P. Kohler (2023). Union Formation, Within-Couple Dynamics, and Child Well-Being in Global Comparative Perspective. Population, Space and Place 29 (5): e2661.
Batyra, E., H.-P. Kohler, and Frank Furstenberg (2021). Changing Gender Gaps in the Timing of Partnership Formation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Population and Development Review 47 (2): 289–322.

Etienne Breton

Etienne Breton (Minnesota Population Center) was a postdoc on the MLSFH Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adolescent HIV Risk contributing to data collection in Malawi and studying the determinants of adolescent HIV risk. Joint publications include:

Breton, E., R. Kidman, J. Behrman, J. Mwera and H.-P. Kohler (2022). Longitudinal consistency of self-reports of adverse childhood experiences among adolescents in a low-income setting. Social Science & Medicine - Population Health, 19: 101205.
Kidman, R., E. Breton, J. Behrman and H.-P. Kohler (2024). Drivers of child marriages for girls: A prospective study in a low-income African setting. Global Public Health, 19(1): 2335356.

Fatima Zahra

Fatima Zahra (Population Council) was a postdoc on the MLSFH Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adolescent HIV Risk studying the determinants of adolescent HIV risk in Malawi. Joint publications include:

Kämpfen, F., F. Zahra, H.-P. Kohler and R. Kidman (2022). The effects of negative economic shocks at birth on adolescents’ cognitive health and educational attainment in Malawi. Social Science & Medicine - Population Health, 18: 101085.
Zahra, F., R. Kidman and H.-P. Kohler (2021). Social norms, agency, and marriage aspirations in Malawi. Journal of Marriage and Family, 83: 1332—1348.

Ph.D. Students.

Dissertation Chair:

Luca Pesando

Dissertation: Three Essays on Family and Educational Change Across Low and Middle-Income Countries (2018)

Currently Associate Professor, New York University - Abu-Dhabi

Joint publications include:

Batyra, E., M. Luca Pesando, Andrés F. Castro, F.F. Furstenberg, and H.-P. Kohler (2023). Union Formation, Within-Couple Dynamics, and Child Well-Being in Global Comparative Perspective. Population, S. and Place 29 (5): e2661.
Pesando, L.M., Andrés Felipe Castro, L. Andriano, J. A Berhman, F. C Billari, C. Monden, F.F. Furstenberg, and H.-P. Kohler (2019). Global Family Change: Persistent Diversity with Development. Population Development Review 45 (1): 133–68.

Menghan Zhao

Dissertation: Chinese Fertility: Past, Present and Future (2018)

Currently Associate Professor, Renmin University of China

Amarachi Utah-Adjibola

Dissertation: Essays on Fertility and the Demographic Dividend in Sub-Saharan Africa: Exploring the Puzzles and Possibilities (2018)

Currently Fellow, Global Growth and Global Development, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Alex Shpenev

Dissertation: Three Essays on Social Context, Education, and Health Outcomes Among Older Adults (2017)

Currently Senior Data Research Scientist, Center for Social Norms and Behavioral Dynamics, University of Pennsylvania

Julio Romero Prieto

Dissertation: Three Essays on Population Dynamics (2017)

Currently Research Fellow in Demography and Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Helena Castanheira

Dissertation: Dissertation Title: Social and Demographic Determinants of Low Fertility in Brazil (2015)

Currently Population Affairs Officer, ECLAC/CEPAL at United Nations

Joint publication:

Castanheira, H.C. and H.-P. Kohler (2022). Estimación de la tasa global de fecundidad del Brasil en 2010: anĺisis de los resultados del método P/F de Brass. Notas de Población 114: 55-76

Thomas Anderson

Dissertation: Essays on the Social, Economic and Demographic Causes and Consequences of Low Fertility (2015)

Currently Partner, The Langston Co, Denver Colorado

Joint publications include:

Anderson, T. M. and H.-P. Kohler (2015). Demographic transition revisited: Low fertility, socioeconomic development, and gender equity. Population and Development Review, 41(3): 381-407
Anderson, T. M. and H.-P. Kohler (2013). Education fever and the East Asian fertility puzzle: A case study of low fertility in South Korea. Asian Population Studies, 9(2): 196-215

Collin Payne

Dissertation: Health and Aging in Low-Resource Contexts: Three Essays on Healthy Life Expectancy in the Developing World (2015)

Currently Associate Professor, Australian National University

Joint publications include:

Payne, C.F., L.M. Pesando and H.-P. Kohler (2019). Private intergenerational transfers, family structure, and health in a sub-Saharan African Context. Population and Development Review, 45(1): 41-80
Payne, C.F., I.V. Kohler, C. Bandawe, K. Lawler and H.-P. Kohler (2018). Cognitive health among older adults: Evidence from rural Sub-Saharan Africa. European Journal of Population, 34(4): 637-662.

Theresa M. Fedor

Dissertation: Changes in HIV/AIDS Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors in Malawi. (2014)

Currently Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Huston

Joint Publications:

Fedor, T. M., H.-P. Kohler and J.R. Behrman (2015). The impact of married individuals learning HIV status in Malawi: Divorce, number of sexual partners, and condom use with spouses. Demography, 52(1), 259-280.
Fedor, T.M., H.-P. Kohler and J.M. McMahon (2015). Changing attitudes and beliefs towards a woman’s right to protect against HIV risk in Malawi. Culture, Health and Sexuality, 18(4): 435-452.

Maria Sironi

Dissertation: The transition to adulthood in the developed western world: a focus on the achievement of economic independence and on the role of family background (2013)

Currently Associate Professor, University College London

S. Afua Appiah-Yeboah

Dissertation: The Role of Household Wealth, Family Transfer Behaviors and Maternal Social Capital on Children’s Human Capital in Rural Malawi (2013)

Sophia Chae

Dissertation: Essays on Family Structure and Marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa (2013)

Currently Associate Professor, Department of Demography, University of Montreal

Marissa Wheeler

Dissertation: Three Essays on Low and Late Fertility (2011)

Ruben Castro

Dissertation: Three essays on mortality and fertility (2011)

Joint publication:

Castro, R., J.R. Behrman and H.-P. Kohler (2015). Perception of HIV risk and the quantity and quality of children: The case of rural Malawi. Journal of Population Economics, 28(1): 113-132.

Whitney Schott

Dissertation: Labor Force Participation of Women with Children (2011)

Monica Grant

Dissertation: Education, HIV Risk Perceptions, and Adolescent Sexual Behavior in Rural Malawi. (2009)

Currently Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Philip Anglewicz

Dissertation: Migration, HIV Infection, and Risk Perception in Malawi. (2007)

Currently Professor & Director of the William H. Gates Sr. Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, John Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health

Joint publications include:

Anglewicz, P., M. VanLandingham, L. Manda-Taylor and H.-P. Kohler (2017). Cohort profile: Internal migration in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Migration and Health in Malawi (MHM) Study. BMJ Open, 7: e014799.
Anglewicz, P., M. VanLandingham, L. Manda-Taylor and H.-P. Kohler (2016). Migration and HIV infection in Malawi: A population-based longitudinal study. AIDS, 30(13): 2099-2105.

Stéphane Helleringer

Dissertation: Sexual Network Structure, Diffusion and prevention of HIV Within Populations: A Case Study Using Complete Network Data in Likoma Island (2007)

Currently Professor of Social Research and Policy, NYU Abu Dhabi

Joint Publications include:

Helleringer, S., J. Mkandawire, L. Kalilani-Phiri and H.-P. Kohler (2014). Cohort profile: The Likoma Network Study (LNS). International Journal of Epidemiology, 43(2): 545-557.
Helleringer, S. and H.-P. Kohler (2007). Sexual network structure and the spread of HIV in Africa: Evidence from Likoma Island, Malawi. AIDS, 21(17): 2323-2332

Members of Dissertation Committee:

Weilong Li

Dissertation: Three Essays on Rural-to-urban Migration and Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) Risk Factors in Low- and Middle-income Countries (LMICs) (2022)

Currently Health Economics and Outcomes Researcher, Novo Nordisk

Halima Twabi

Dissertation: Causal Inference for Longitudinal Observational Studies with Multiple Outcomes (2022, University of Malawi)

Currently Associate Professor, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Malawi

Joint publications:

Twabi, H.S., S.O.M. Manda, D.S. Small and H.-P. Kohler (2023). A marginal structural model for estimation of the effect of HIV positivity awareness on risky sexual behaviour. Biostatistics & Epidemiology, 6(2): 309-326.

Emmanuel Souza

Dissertation: Three essays on labor market incorporation and remitting behavior in sub-Saharan Africa (2020)

Currently Senior Lecturer, University of Malawi

Fabrice Kaempfen

Dissertation: Four Essays in Applied Microeconomics (2019, University of Lausanne)

Currently Assistant Professor, School of Economics, University College Dublin (UCD)

Joint publications include:

Kämpfen, F., F. Zahra, H.-P Kohler and R. Kidman (2022). The effects of negative economic shocks at birth on adolescents’ cognitive health and educational attainment in Malawi. Social Science & Medicine Population Health, 18: 101085.
Ciancio, A., F. Kämpfen, H.-P. Kohler and I,V. Kohler (2021). Health screening for emerging disease burdens among the global poor: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Health Economics, 75: 102388

Alejandra Abufhele

Dissertation: Three Essays on Early Childhood Development from Chile (2017)

Currently Assistant Professor, School of Government, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez

Nikkil Sudharsanan

Dissertation: A Global Perspective on Aging and Inequality (2017)

Currently Rudolf Mößbauer Assistant Professor, Technical University of Munich

Joint publications:

Kohler, I.V., N. Sudharsanan, C. Bandawe and H.-P. Kohler (2022). Aging and hypertension among the global poor˜panel data evidence from Malawi. PLOS Global Public Health, 3(4): e0001811.
Sudharsanan, N., J.R. Behrman and H.-P. Kohler (2016). Limited common origins of multiple adult health-related behaviors: Evidence from U.S. twins. Social Science & Medicine, 171: 67-83.

David Frankenfield

Dissertation: Three Essays on Mortality, Health, and Migration (2016)

Currently Associate Actuary, Lincoln Financial Group

Laura Kelly

Dissertation: Three Essays on the Behavioral, Socioeconomic, and Geographic Determinants of Mortality: Evidence from the United Kingdom and International Comparisons (2016)

Currently Associate Professor, Gillings School of Global Public Health

Daniella Marshall

Dissertation: Early Childhood Development and Parental Decisions (2015)

Currently Scientific Program Manager, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Stephen Cranney

Dissertation: Relationship Between Religious Frame-works and Sense of Purpose/Subjective Well-being (2015)

Currently Data Scientist, Catholic University of America

Ning Hsieh

Dissertation: Social Networks, Social Support, and Mental Health: Three Studies from a Cross-national Comparative Perspective (2014)

Currently Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Michigan State University

Brian Chin

Dissertation: Essays on health, mortality, and intergenerational transfers in rural Malawi (2011)

Currently Senior Health Specialist, Asian Development Bank

Maria Cecilia Calderon

Dissertation: Gender Inequalities, Human Capital and Development in Guatemala (2009)

Currently Research and Data Specialist, United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC)

Brooke Amanda Levandowski

Dissertation: Association of STI/HIV Infection with Reported Behavior Change and Concurrency Among Rural Youth in South Africa and Malawi (2008, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)

Currently Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (SMD) and Department of Public Health Sciences (SMD), University of Rochester Medical Center

Erica Soler-Hampejsek

Dissertation: Schooling, Gender, and Marriage in Guatemala (2008)

Francis Obare

Dissertation: Response to Population-based Voluntary Counseling and for HIV in Rural Malawi (2007)

Currently Senior Research Associate, Population Council

Joint publications:

Anglewicz, P., J. Adams, F. Obare, H.-P. Kohler and S.C. Watkins (2009). The Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project 2004—06: Data collection, data quality and analyses of attrition. Demographic Research, 20(21): 503-540.
Anglewicz, P., J. Adams, F. Obare, H.-P. Kohler and S.C. Watkins (2009). The Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project 2004—06: Data collection, data quality and analyses of attrition. Demographic Research, 20(21): 503-540.

George Reniers

Dissertation: HIV/AIDS Surveillance and Behavioral Change in Populations Affected by the AIDS Epidemic (2006)

Currently Associate Professor in Demography, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Joint publications:

Helleringer, S., H.-P. Kohler, J. Mkandawire, G. Reniers and L. Kalilani-Phiri (2013). Should home-based HIV testing and counseling campaigns be repeated periodically in programs of ARV treatment as prevention? A case study in Likoma (Malawi). AIDS and Behavior, 17(6): 2100-2108.
Boileau, C., S. Clark, M. Poulin, S. Bignami-Van Assche, G. Reniers, S.C. Watkins, H.-P. Kohler and J. Heymann (2009). Sexual and marital trajectories and HIV infection among ever-married women in rural Malawi. Sexually Transmitted Infections, 85(Supplement 1): i27-i33.

Robert Mswia

Dissertation: Mortality in the Era of HIV/AIDS in Tanzania (2006)

Currently Social Scientist and Senior Technical Specialist, MEASURE Evaluation

Sarah Hayford

Dissertation: Fertility and Marriage in an Era of Family Change (2005)

Currently Professor and Director of the Institute for Population Research, Ohio State University

Sheela Kennedy

Dissertation: Education and Family Change: A Comparative Study of Shifts in the Timing and Structure of Family Formation (2005)

Currently Research Assistant Professor, Health Management & Policy, University of Michigan

Fernando Riosmena

Dissertation: Within, Between, and Beyond Space Time: Three Essays on Latin America–US Migratory Dynamics (2005)

Currently Professor of Sociology and Demography, University of Texas at San Antonio

Sarah Winslow-Bowei

Dissertation: Husbands’ and Wives’ Relative Income: An Analysis of Persistence and Variation (2005)

Currently Dean, Clemson University Honors College

Solène Lardoux

Dissertation: Polygyny, First Marriage and Fertility in Senegal and Mali (2004)

Currently Associate Professor of Demography, University of Montreal

Hongyu Wang

Dissertation: The performance of multiple imputation for missing data in the context of Cox regression model (2004)

Currently Associate Professor, University of Macau

Kevin Thomas

Dissertation: The Demography of Migrant Populations in South Africa (2004)

Currently Professor of Africa and African Diaspora Studies and Director of the Institute of Urban Policy Research and Analysis, University of Texas at Austin

Laura Bernardi

Dissertation: Personal Relationships and Reproductive Choices: Evidence from a Low Fertility Context (2002, University of Rome La Sapienza)

Currently Associate Professor for Demography and Sociology, University of Lausanne

Karsten Hank

Dissertation: Regional Social Contexts and Fertility in Western Germany: A Multilevel Approach (2001, University of Rostock)

Currently Professor of Sociology, University of Cologne

Joint publications:

Hank, K. and H.-P. Kohler (2003). Sex preferences for children revisited: New evidence from Germany. Population, 58(1): 133-143
Hank, K. and H.-P. Kohler (2000). Gender preferences for children in Europe: Empirical results from 17 FFS countries. Demographic Research, 2(1)

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