Fellows bring a wide range of expertise with distinguished careers in public policy research and practice
Albany, NY — The Rockefeller Institute of Government is excited to announce six dynamic researchers and practitioners as 2022-23 Richard P. Nathan Public Policy Fellows. Over the next year, these experts will partner with Rockefeller Institute researchers to examine timely public policy issues in gun violence, public health, healthcare, local government fiscal management, and environmental justice.
The prestigious fellowship program is named after former longtime Rockefeller Institute Director Richard P. Nathan. The fellowship seeks to connect cutting-edge policy expertise to public problems and the policy community that tries to address these problems.
“We are eager to welcome and support this diverse group of leading scholars as they carry out timely research across key issues facing New York State and the nation,” said Rockefeller Institute Executive Director of Research Laura Schultz. “The Nathan fellowship program continues to be an excellent vehicle for facilitating the flow of research from experts to policymakers and the public and we look forward to advancing the work of this year’s fellows.”
The fellows are:
Nina Agrawal
Dr. Nina Agrawal is a pediatrician, with expertise in child abuse pediatrics. She is a thought leader in children’s exposure to community gun violence, family violence, and other adversities, and is a steadfast advocate for minoritized children and families. She was formerly an assistant professor of pediatrics at Columbia Medical Center, where she conducted child abuse medical evaluations in collaboration with special victims’ detectives and child protective services. She provides expert testimony in criminal and family court in the New York metropolitan area. Agrawal holds leadership positions in several medical organizations. On a national level, she chairs the Gun Violence Solutions committee for the American Medical Women’s Association and the Child Abuse Prevention Committee of the Helfer Society. At the state level, in New York, she chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Gun Safety Committee and the Community Access to Children’s Health Grant Program. On a local level, she chairs the NYS-AAP, Injury and Violence Prevention Committee and the Child Sex Trafficking Action Team. She is a writer and has authored OpEds in the New York Times, the NY Daily News, and STAT. She has been covered in print and broadcast outlets around the world, including CNN, BBC, and the Washington Post. Agrawal holds a medical degree from Rutgers University. She completed residency in pediatrics at Cornell University and a fellowship in Academic Pediatrics at New York University. She is currently an MS Candidate in the Health Communications for Social Change Program at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy. As part of her fellowship, Agrawal will study barriers to use of Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) for youth and formulate ERPO policies which are youth-centered, equitable, and trauma-informed.
Patricia Born
Dr. Patricia Born is Midyette eminent scholar and full professor in the Department of Risk Management/Insurance, Real Estate and Legal Studies at Florida State University. She received her MA and PhD from Duke University and her BA from the University of Michigan. Born teaches courses in risk management, insurance, and data analytics at all academic levels. Her research publications address issues in insurance regulation, medical malpractice liability, health insurance, catastrophe modeling, and insurance market development. She has served as an expert witness and provided consulting services on a wide range of cases relating to insurance and liability issues. Born currently serves on the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology and has held leadership roles in several academic organizations including the American Risk and Insurance Association and the Risk Theory Society. She is editor of the Risk Management and Insurance Review and currently serves as chair of the Florida Panhandle District Long Term Care Ombudsman Council. As part of her fellowship, Born will examine the stability of state health insurance exchanges, including assessments of financial performance and enrollment.
Rahul Pathak
Dr. Rahul Pathak is an assistant professor of public budgeting and financial management in the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at the Baruch College, City University of New York (CUNY). He previously worked at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University where he also received a PhD in public policy. His primary research interests lie at the intersection of public finance and social policy, with a particular focus on strengthening the functioning of subnational governments. He examines related issues in the domestic as well as international contexts. His research has appeared in journals such as Public Administration Review, Regional Science and Urban Economics, and State Tax Notes. His recent research on the fiscal impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic has been published in the Journal of Public Budgeting Accounting and Financial Management and the Municipal Finance Journal. As part of his fellowship, Pathak will study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the finances of cities in New York and examine the trajectory of fiscal and economic recovery.
Sarah Rogerson
Sarah Rogerson directs The Justice Center at Albany Law School. She is also the faculty director of the Immigration Law Clinic, in which students represent immigrant victims of crime, including child abuse and neglect, persecution, domestic violence, and sexual assault. Under her supervision, her students also represent wrongfully detained immigrants and regularly participate in legislative advocacy and community outreach initiatives. Before joining the faculty, Rogerson worked as a housing and immigrant rights public interest attorney in Newark, New Jersey, and in Dallas, Texas. Her scholarship addresses flaws in the administration of immigration law and policy, including intersections with domestic violence and international law. She has also been published on current issues such as crisis lawyering, education policy and gun safety, having direct lived experience with each of those topics. She is a New York State Municipal Police Instructor and is a regular panelist on WAMC Public Radio’s “The Roundtable.” In 2020, Rogerson was elected to a three-year term on the Niskayuna Central School District Board of Education, on which she serves as Vice President. As part of her fellowship, Rogerson will examine best practices in school gun violence prevention, including the effective dissemination of safe firearm storage information, threat assessment and mental health supports, and the efficacy of school resource officers.
Lemir Teron
Dr. Lemir Teron is a faculty member at the SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry (ESF). His research focuses on urban sustainability, energy policy, and environmental justice. He received his PhD from the University of Delaware and completed a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) supported postdoc at the Environmental Cooperative Science Center at Florida A&M University. He currently serves on the energy working group of the forthcoming New York State Climate Impacts Assessment. Teron was awarded the 2019 Distinguished Faculty Member for Teaching Excellence Award by the SUNY ESF Undergraduate Student Association and he received a 2020 Unsung Hero Award at the 35th Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration in Syracuse, New York for his commitment to racial and environmental justice. As part of his fellowship, Teron will study issues of transportation and environmental justice, with a special emphasis on the disparate impacts of urban heat islands and strategies to combat urban heat.
Staci Zavattaro
Dr. Staci M. Zavattaro is a professor of public administration at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Her latest research focuses on understanding the public service aspect of death management. Her book City Sextons: Tales from Municipal Leaders focuses on public sector cemetery management. Her work has been featured in The Conversation, Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL), and the Orlando Sentinel. She was recently named a UCF Luminary in recognition of her outstanding research contributions. As part of her fellowship, Zavattaro will examine the challenges facing the deathcare workforce (e.g., medical examiners and coroners), including a decreased supply of workers, mental health of practitioners, and policy and resource interventions needed moving forward.