I am currently an Associate Professor in the School of Sociology and Anthropology at Sun Yat-sen University, and a fellow of the university's Hundred Talents Project. Prior to this post, I worked at Murray State University in Kentucky as an Assistant Professor of Sociology, and, further back, a research fellow in Center of Religion and Chinese Society at Purdue University. I hold a Ph.D. (2016) and M.S. (2012) in Sociology from Purdue University, and a Bachelor of Law (2010) from Zhejiang University. Some of my achievements include the Junior Scholar Award from the American Sociological Association (Section on Drugs & Society), the title of Outstanding Professor and Researcher by the USCIS, and Scientific Advancement Prize by the Government of Zhejiang Province.
My research investigates how supra-individual contextual composition and factors shape individuals' health behaviors, particularly at-risk health behaviors that conjoin human health with deviance, such as substance use and sex work patronage. I am particularly interested in the "how" question in the research of contextual effects, that is, through what mechanisms does a contextual factor exercise its impact on individuals. Such explorations include my studies on how county- and country-level demographic diversities have shifted the health burden of social disadvantages; the social gradients of modernization and smoking in China; religious demography and substance use in the U.S. A separate vein of my research focuses on the health-impacts of the structures and density of one's social networks. My research endeavor has produced over 30 peer-reviewed articles that appeared in leading sociology and public health journals such as Social Science & Medicine, Sociology of Health and Illness, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Social Science Research, Tobacco Control, and more.
I enjoy interdisciplinary collaboration and have worked with sociologists, health scientists, criminologists, and demographers on teaching and researching for many years. You can reach me personally at yusufyang@gmail.com or talk over +1 917 310 3034
