Yalu Zhang

Yalu Zhang’s research interests: Aging, health, poverty.

Yalu Zhang is a doctoral candidate at the Columbia School of Social Work, focusing on health payment-induced poverty and health care policies in both China and the US. She studies the impacts of social and economic factors on health and aging across multiple domains, including physical frailty, cognitive functions, and health-seeking behaviors. She also researches the health financing policy strategies and cost-sharing structures of both China and the US and the effectiveness of health insurance among urban and rural residents in China by using macro- and micro-data. Previously, Yalu was a Care Transitions Coach and assisted low-income patients discharged from three hospitals in New York City to be more productive and active in their health care. She was a consultant at the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy and was a research fellow at the National Council on Aging.