Hello! I'm Vikas PD Gawai, a Steven M. Teutsch Prevention Effectiveness (PE) Fellow at the US government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). I received my Ph.D. in Applied Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) in 2024.

As an applied economist, I focus on policy evaluations in health, aging, and human capital in the US, India, and Europe. My current research covers the following areas:

• Impacts of investments in technologies on physical and mental health, welfare, and access to Social Security
• Long-term effects of early-life shocks on health and intergenerational well-being
• Efficiency of the Public Health Systems and Cost-Effectivness of government spending
• Effects of educational policies on human capital

I employ advanced quantitative methods like difference-in-differences (DID) and multiple regression discontinuity design (MRDD) to address critical policy questions. My research have been funded by agencies like the Social Security Administration (SSA).

My research has been published in peer-reviewed journals and highlighted in popular media.

• Graduate Student, Agricultural and Applied Economics, UW-Madison
• Graduate Fellow, Center for Demography, Health, and Aging (CDHA), Center for Demography and Ecology (CDE), UW-Madison
• Research Fellow, Retirement and Disability Research Center (RDRC), UW-Madison
• Diversity Fellow, School of Public Affairs, American University
• Graduate Fellow, Institute of Research on Poverty (IRP), UW-Madison