KM (Kristina) Thompson
Assistant professorfollow_us_label
I am a health demographer, and am an assistant professor in the Health & Society group of Wageningen University & Research. I quantitatively examine the social determinants of health. More specifically, I study how social and economic factors across the life course may impact health and mortality. My work increasingly employs complexity science approaches and computational modelling.
Currently, I am involved in a few research projects, (1) how social networks may be leveraged to change health behaviors and to improve the efficacy of health interventions; (2) the impact of crises - such as the COVID-19 pandemic - on population health; and (3) how health and mortality may be measured in the long-run.
I previously studied at Tufts University (B.A.), Cambridge University (M.Phil), and Wageningen University (M.Sc.). I completed my Ph.D. at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in February 2022, in the Health Sciences department. My thesis focused on body height - as a barometer of well-being during development - and its relationships to later-life social, economic and health outcomes.