In a Q&A by the American Economic Association with Maya Rossin-Slater, the health economist discussed what led her to an academic career in economics and health policy, how she determines which research topics to tackle—and when to let some go.

The associate professor of health policy and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) is the most recent winner of the AEA Elaine Bennett Research Prize for her groundbreaking research that examines the impacts of public policies and other factors on families and children. 

In the Q&A, Kosali Simon, the distinguished professor and associate vice provost for Health Sciences at Indiana University, asked what outside factors pushed Rossin-Slater, PhD, toward economics. She pointed to her early childhood in Russia.

“I was born in St. Petersburg, Russia—the former Soviet Union in the 1980s—and lived in a small apartment,” Rossin-Slater said. “There were five of us: my parents, my grandma, my uncle, and I. My grandma was my primary caregiver during much of my early childhood because both my parents worked. This was an uncertain and stressful time leading up to the collapse of the Soviet Union—economic insecurity, stress, crime, alcoholism, Chernobyl—all kinds of events that we often think of as being adverse shocks to the early childhood environment. What I’m particularly grateful for is that I nevertheless felt very loved and safe, and that is largely due to my family and especially my grandma’s role in raising me.”

Then at 10 years old, her family immigrated to United States and, just months before federal welfare reform restricted an immigrant’s ability to use the social safety net, they were able to take advantage of Food Stamps and Medicaid when they first arrived.

“I am also lucky to have benefitted from great public schools, especially UC Berkeley, my undergrad institution,” she said. 

Read the Full Q&A in this AEA Newsletter