Jie Chen has joined Saint Francis’ Center for the Study of Occupational Regulation as its first doctoral fellow.

Chen will be working remotely from Lehigh University, where she is enrolled in a doctoral program.

The Shanghai, China, native pursued the fellowship opportunity at SFU because of her interest in health and labor economics.

“I was inspired by Professor (Edward) Timmons (SFU) and Professor (Robert) Thornton’s (Lehigh) work in licensing,” said Chen.

“My research topic is pinned down to occupational licensing for medical professionals.”

Timmons serves as the director of the recently formed Center for the Study of Occupational Regulation at Saint Francis. He plans to always have at least one fellow doing research on occupational regulation.

“We intend to expand our understanding of the effects of occupational regulation on a variety of outcomes, including in the health-care setting, which will be the focus of Jie’s research,” Timmons said.