Xiao Ren joined the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) as visiting scholar for the 2022-2023 fall quarter. He serves as Professor at Fudan University, Institute of International Studies, as well as Director for the university's Center for the Study of Chinese Foreign Policy. While at APARC, he conducted research exploring ideas and ways for China and the U.S. to better manage their competition during the Biden administration and Xi Jinping's leadership.

Jianan Yang joined the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) as the 2022-2023 Developing Asia Health Policy Postdoctoral Fellow. She recently obtained her Ph.D. in Economics at the University of California San Diego. She holds B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from the Renmin University of China. Her research lies in the intersection of development and health economics and revolves around what drives the sub-optimal healthcare-seeking behaviors in developing countries and how they can be improved by leveraging price or non-price mechanisms.

Yang views health as a fundamental part of human development. People in developing countries usually face additional barriers to accessing healthcare resources because of underqualified providers on the one side, lower income levels, insufficient insurance coverages, and a lack of information on the other side. Because markets in healthcare settings are usually characterized by imperfect competition and government regulations, Yang thinks it is important to evaluate the policies’ impacts on various aspects of the healthcare system. Through understanding the underlying constraints, we can think about how the policy can be designed more efficiently.

Yang’s dissertation studied how patients’ chronic condition drug utilization responds to price reductions in China. By documenting a larger increase in utilization and a meaningful reduction in underuse among the uninsured, the study suggests that the price elasticities would be higher in developing countries and there will be larger welfare benefits from such price reductions resulting from squeezing out the price markups of the pharmaceutical companies due to market power. The finding suggests that cost is a barrier to both drug take-up and adherence, especially among the lower-income population who meanwhile are more likely to not have insurance coverage.

At APARC, Yang further accessed the underlying factors affecting people’s healthcare-seeking behaviors including the role of cost, information, and behavioral bias. She also extended her research agenda to the other sectors of the healthcare system. 

Hongmei Yu joined the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) as visiting scholar for the 2022-2023 academic year. She currently serves as Associate Professor at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, Department of Shanghai Documentary Academy. While at APARC, she conducted research on the logic of governance and community building in mediated urban life, focusing on China as well as comparing to experiences of the West.

Laura M. Stone joined the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) as Visiting Scholar and China Policy Fellow for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 academic years. She currently serves the U.S. Department of State, recently as Deputy Coordinator for the Secretary's Office for COVID Response and Health Security. While at APARC, she conducted research with the China Program and Professor Jean Oi regarding contemporary China affairs and U.S.-China policy.

Professor Jia Qingguo joined the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) and the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) as Visiting Scholar and Payne Distinguished Fellow for the 2022 fall quarter. He currently serves as Professor at the School of International Studies at Peking University. While at APARC, he conducted research on the state and future development of U.S.-China policy.

Julia Tao Wei is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2022-23. Wei has worked in the financial industry for over 20 years and has vast experiences across a variety of financial products including commercial banking business, corporate finance, cross-border M&A, derivative products, private equity and asset management.  Since 2015, as a founding partner, Wei has led the Discovery Capital (Hong Kong) team focusing on non-performing asset investments and maintained partnership of the family office of Winsome Group (Hong Kong). Her previous experience included many years at investment banks such as Mizuho Bank, UBS, BNP Paribas and BOCGI. We is an active social activist, member of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, and advisor of think tanks, including D&C Think Tank. She received her bachelor's degree of economics from Hangzhou Dianzi University and studied in an MBA program at Waseda University in Tokyo. She is fluent in Mandarin, English and Japanese.

Chiu Fai Stanley Choi is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2022-23. Choi is the founder of Head & Shoulders Financial Group based in Hong Kong. He has over 25 years of experience across the area of derivatives, private equity and blockchain. Currently, he has shifted his focus to personal investments becoming a major shareholder of Air Asia, a leading budget airline in Asia, and China Reinsurance, the largest reinsurance company in China. Choi earned his Master of Science (MS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and his Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) at City University of Hong Kong.