People

Dr. Kuo’s research utilizes social and behavioral data from population-based longitudinal studies to examine how social determinants of health interact with individual behaviors and shape disparities in cardiometabolic outcomes. Her research expertise includes systematic review and meta-analysis, development and validation of health instruments, quasi-experimental research designs, and intervention research. Dr. Kuo works with an interdisciplinary team examining the integrability and sustainability of mobile health technologies in truck drivers and construction workers. The ultimate goal is to build worker-centered intelligent environments to alleviate health disparities among industrial workers across the nation and the world. Dr. Kuo teaches courses in measurement development and clinical research practicum. She mentors graduate students and undergraduate students.

Dr. McDonald’s Lab Website

Dr. Zhu received his Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in 2002 and Master’s degree in Computer Science and Technology in 2006. Both are from Zhejiang University, China. In 2011, he obtained his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, and then worked in Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, as Assistant Professor from 2011 to 2016 and Associate Professor from 2016 to 2019. Dr. Zhu is a registered Professional Engineer in the Province of Ontario, Canada. His research interests include visual sensing and anaylsis in construction, digital modeling, construction automation and robotics. He is the recipient of the 2013 ASCE Collingwood Prize and the Best Paper Award at the 2009 Construction Research Congress

Dr. Zhu’s Lab Website

Zahra is a new PhD student and a project assistant at the METAR Lab. Zahra is a midwife with extensive clinical experience in women’s health centers and maternity emergency departments, as well as research experience at hospital research centers. She has worked in patient safety units and has been involved in investigating maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity.

Jinghao is a first-year Information Science student studying health informatics and human-centered AI Systems. Jinghao graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison where he majored in Psychology and Statistics. His research aims to discover how social determinants of health interact with underserved communities, and how psychological stressors are involved into the relationship. In his free time, Jinghao enjoys hiking, swimming, and cooking with friends.

Caleb is an undergraduate student at UW-Madison studying Kinesiology and attaining a certificate in Global Health. He plans to go to medical school, and he has a passion for understanding how to apply determinants of health into medical practice. Caleb grew up in DeForest, Wisconsin, and his multicultural family has given him perspective and motivation to improve health outcomes all over the world.

David is a senior undergraduate at UW-Madison majoring in Nursing. David is originally from Chicago, and he is passionate about addressing health disparities and breaking down language barriers in underserved communities. After graduation, David is eager to bring his skills and dedication back to Chicago to improve healthcare access and equity.

Chloe is from San Diego, California, and is a pre-nursing major in her sophomore year. She plans on becoming a registered nurse in an ICU or emergency department. Chloe is interested in the research process as a whole and exploring ways to best support and address health issues within vulnerable populations.

Tina is an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in Computer Sciences and Computer Engineering. She is interested in machine learning, particularly in developing predictive models for data-driven applications that address real-world problems.

Aren is currently pursuing a double major in  Marketing and Biology along with having a great interest in researching cardiovascular health. Aren comes from a small town just outside of the greater Milwaukee area called Pewaukee, Wisconsin. His current career goals are to eventually work his way into the Pharmaceutical Sales position. Along with that some fun facts about Aren is that  he is in the Wisconsin Club Lacrosse Team. In his free time, Aren loves to go to the gym, and enjoy traveling and being in the outdoors.