EXPERTS ADVISORY

ANN ARBOR—A devastating typhoon in the Philippines has killed an estimated 2,000 people and displaced more than 600,000 residents. The University of Michigan has experts available to discuss the aftermath. They include:

Deirdre de la Cruz, assistant professor of Southeast Asian studies, specializes in the cultures and histories of Southeast Asia, in particular the Philippines. In addition to Philippine history and ethnography, her research interests include theories of religion, colonialism and post-colonialism, visual culture, histories and theories of the mass media, and global occultisms. She can be reached at ddelac@umich.edu.

Allen Hicken, associate professor of political science, studies political institutions and political economy in developing countries. His primary focus is on political parties and party systems in developing democracies and their role in policymaking. His regional specialty is Southeast Asia where he has worked in the Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia. He co-wrote a paper about the politics of typhoon relief in the Philippines: http://bit.ly/19Xl7Zg. He can be reached at ahicken@umich.edu.

Joseph Eisenberg, associate professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health, studies infectious disease epidemiology with a focus on waterborne and vector borne diseases. His current work focuses on how changes in the social and natural environment affect the epidemiology of pathogens causing disease. He is also involved with assessing public health risk from exposures to microbial agents in drinking waters, recreational waters, and biosolids. Eisenberg can be reached at jnse@umich.edu or (734) 615-1625

Dr. Eden Wells, clinical associate professor of epidemiology and acting director of the Preventive Medicine Residency at School of Public Health, has research interests in emerging infectious disease threats. She formerly was with the Bureau of Epidemiology at the Michigan Department of Community Health, serving as a medical consultant and medical epidemiologist. She can be reached at (734) 763-6880 or ewells@umich.edu.

Dean Yang, associate professor of economics and public policy, is an expert on the economic effects of disasters, international migration, microfinance, human capital, international trade, and crime and corruption. Much of his research has focused on the Philippines. He is available at (734) 764-6158 or deanyang@umich.edu.

Brian Zikmund-Fisher, assistant professor of health behavior and health education at the School of Public Health, and research assistant professor in internal medicine at the Medical School, has an interdisciplinary background in decision psychology and behavioral economics. He can discuss how best to communicate risk information and how the public reacts to health and medical issues. He can be reached at (734) 936-9179 or bzikmund@umich.edu.