Education

Ph.D., University at Albany, SUNY

Areas of interest:

• Health Disparities and Medical Sociology

• Quantitative Methods

• Life Course Perspective

• Spatial Analysis and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Current Research

My main research focuses on how spatial and contextual factors affect health disparities in the United States. My research primarily employs quantitative methods, including spatial analysis and GIS. In particular, I’m interested in how social and cultural resources contribute to the unequal distribution of health outcomes (e.g., suicide, drug overdose).

My current research includes a project that examines how social and cultural capital at the county-level affects the rise in mortality rates from suicide, alcohol, and opioids. Another line of my research focuses on how neighborhood characteristics are interacted with individuals’ living alone status to affect the risk of having dementia among older adults.

Current Teaching

I’m currently teaching Drugs and Society (SOCI 309).

Selected publications

Tse-Chuan Yang, Carla Shoff, Seulki Kim, and Benjamin A. Shaw. 2022. “County Social Isolation and Opioid Use Disorder among Older Adults: A Longitudinal Analysis of Medicare Data, 2013-2018.” Social Science & Medicine 301. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953622002775?via%3Dihub

Tse-Chuan Yang, Seulki Kim, and Stephen A. Matthews. 2021. “Unemployment and Opioid-Related Mortality Rates in US Counties: Investigating Social Capital and Social Isolation-Smoking Pathways.” Social Problems spab053. https://academic.oup.com/socpro/advance-article/doi/10.1093/socpro/spab053/6370691

Tse-Chuan Yang, Seulki Kim, and Stephen A. Matthews. 2021. “Face Masking Violations, Policing, and COVID-19 Death Rates: A Spatial Analysis in New York City ZIP Codes.” The Professional Geographer 73(4) 670-82. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00330124.2021.1933552

Student Opportunities

I am always looking for students who are interested in health disparities and methods. If you want to discuss possible research opportunities, feel free to contact me.