Spotlight

Nuannuan Xiang is an Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management. She is a political scientist by training, and completed her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan and a postdoctoral fellowship in International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Learn more about Professor Xiang below: 

Tell us about yourself! 
My research lies at the intersection of public health, the welfare state, and state-building. My current book-length project examines the differential treatment of mothers and infants in public health interventions in the United States and Japan. I am also a quantitative methodologist interested in using innovative methods to detect and understand systemic racial disparities in maternal and infant health with large datasets of medical records linked to socioeconomic data. My other research agendas include the politics of the U.S. community health centers and the relationship between women's suffrage, public health, and state-building.
 
What drew you to join HPM as a full-time faculty member? 
HPM is an exciting interdisciplinary place. We have political scientists, sociologists, economists, and psychologists in the department. It’s very cool that people from so many different disciplines work together, sometimes on the same topic, but from different perspectives and using various methods.
 
What classes do you teach? What do you enjoy most about being in the classroom? 

I will teach a class on mixed methods in health systems research in the incoming spring semester. I will probably teach a new class about the politics of American public health in the 2024-2025 school year. In the past, I interacted a lot with my students in my teaching. Some students may be surprised (hopefully not scared!) by how conversational my class is. It is the conversation with my students that I enjoy most in the classroom.

What research initiatives do you focus on and how do you engage students in your research?

I hope to finish my book project on the comparative analysis of maternal and infant protection in the United States and Japan soon. In a related line of research, I trace and explain racial and geographical inequality in maternal mortality in the United States from more than 100 years ago to now. I am recruiting research assistants for this project and welcome students interested in this project to contact me.

Magda Schaler-Haynes  

Magda Schaler Haynes, JD, MPH, is a Professor of Health Policy and Management. Her scholarship and teaching focus on intersections of constitutional law and health policy including public health law, reproductive healthcare, abortion law, and pandemic response. Learn more about Professor Schaler-Haynes below: 
 
Tell us about yourself! 
I’m an attorney specializing in health policy and have spent most of my career in the public sector.  I’ve held policy and advisory roles in multiple agencies including departments of health, insurance and the office of an attorney general, worked for a member of Congress and on Supreme Court litigation.  I’ve also worked in private and non-profit sectors and am glad to have explored public health law and policy from many angles.  Today my work focuses on health equity including pandemic prevention and response; maternal and reproductive health; scope of practice, provider supply and licensure for the health professions; vital records; end of life care and health insurance reform.         
 
I first arrived at HPM 27 years ago as an MPH student straight out of college back when HPM was in the NYC Department of Health building on the corner of 168th and Broadway.  As an undergrad at Brandeis University, I studied medical sociology with a concentration in law, medicine and health policy.  I knew I wanted a career in public health law and that Columbia -and HPM in particular – was the right next step for me. Although uncertain of the exact direction of my career, coming to Columbia was the best decision I could have made at that point in my education. I am lucky to have learned from many great HPM scholars: cross-national health policy from Bernie Challenor; political economy from Eli Ginzberg; and the faculty who are now colleagues including Michael Sparer, Jeanne Stellman and Larry Brown.     
 
I grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland outside Washington, DC and public health issues were very much part of our dinner table conversation- a tradition I happily continue with my family. When not at work, I love spending time outdoors with my three daughters, husband and our two dogs.  
 
What drew you to join HPM as a full-time faculty member? 
As a lawyer, it is important to me to be among experts in other fields including political science, economics, social psychology and health services and policy research.   I want to be close to the evidence-base on which policy should be designed. HPM is a multi-disciplinary, collaborative and thoughtful academic community. Being part of this type of community broadens the vision for how tools of law can be used to solve public health problems.  Having worked on health policy in variable political climates during times of emergency and times of relative calm, I am eager to synthesize these experiences and build new approaches to connecting university-based work with democracy at a critical moment in our nation’s history.  Most importantly, HPM is filled with wonderful people and that is what makes it a great place to be. I am very excited to join HPM full-time.  
 
What classes do you teach? What do you enjoy most about being in the classroom? 
I teach Public Health Law and have since 2008.  This course was previously taught by Columbia Law Professor Frank Grad who was a legend in the field and a teacher and mentor of mine.  Public Health Law is a constitutional law course focused on the responsibilities, discretion and limits of government to act on behalf of the public’s health.  In the course, we cover everything from quarantine, vaccination and tobacco control laws to free speech, tax, religious rights and the Commerce Clause.  I also teach Money, Politics & Law: Abortion Policy and Public Health which is a “deep dive” into health legislation, regulation and jurisprudence through the lens of abortion. Teaching pandemic law during a pandemic and abortion law as the Supreme Court revoked our right to reproductive autonomy are notable moments in my career and I look forward to training future leaders to tackle these issues.     
 
It is a privilege to provide the foundational classroom connection between the Constitution and public health. I enjoy teaching students, especially non-lawyers, to become conversant in law in order to make sound health policy. Teaching and learning are definitely a two-way street and I always count on students to ask hard questions, which they do! I look forward to hearing student views, to in-class debates and to hearing from our many inspiring guest speakers. I love keeping in touch with students over the years and cheering on their many post-Mailman accomplishments.

Thalia Porteny    

Dr. Thalia Porteny is an Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management. She is a health policy scholar and applied ethicist. Her research aims to better understand the health needs and experiences of vulnerable populations to advance fairer patient treatment, allocation and access to health resources. Learn more about Professor Porteny below: 
 
Tell us about yourself! 
I am one of the newest junior faculty members in the department! I am a Mexico City native, a city that is rich in culture but rampant in stark inequalities. My passion for health policy and ethics is motivated by the needs I saw through my upbringing and working in the Mexican Ministry of Health, where I was exposed to the need for evidence-based health policy for vulnerable populations.        
 
What drew you to join HPM as a full-time faculty member? 
As a health policy scholar and applied ethicist, I was drawn by the interdisciplinary nature of the HPM department and the Mailman School of Public Health. The openness of faculty to collaborate on research, the supportive environment for new research ideas and the innovative teaching that takes place in our department is unique. Beyond our department, I have found areas of opportunity at the Butler Center for Aging and the Columbia Population Research Center, among others. As a full-time faculty member, I have found my new home at HPM to be full of fantastic resources and amazing people.  
 
What classes do you teach? What do you enjoy most about being in the classroom? 
I am currently teaching Public Health Concepts for Managers in the MHA Part-Time Program. I am fascinated by the depth of knowledge and experience that our students bring to the classroom. As students that are also working full-time, I am thrilled to see how my students can integrate new frameworks with great agility and apply concepts in their current jobs, enabling them to become leaders in their respective fields.   
 
What research initiatives do you focus on and how do you engage students in your research? 
My research focuses on improving patient treatment, access, and resource allocation for the elderly migrant community in the U.S. I am deeply committed to my student collaborators and building their research skills. HPM students are involved in most, if not all, of my new projects through research fellowships. As my research portfolio grows, I am eager to offer Research Associate positions and more fellowship opportunities to students. My student collaborators are matched based on their research interests and goals to available projects. For example, one of my research fellows majored in biology and is currently in the MHA program. She is collaborating with me on a project with the Butler Center where we are exploring if legal status may have an effect in the biological aging of the Mexican migrant population in the U.S.