I am an affiliate at the Golub Capital Social Impact Lab at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. I am also an Honorary Associate Professor at the Center for International Health at the University of Otāgo. Previously, I was a Research Manager and Lead Economist at the World Bank's Development Research Group, where I worked as a development economist from 2001 until June 30, 2025. 

I received my B.Sc. in Mathematics from Boğaziçi University in 1991 and my Ph.D. in Economics from Cornell University in 2001. After working on poverty and inequality measurement, poverty mapping, and the 2006 World Development Report on Equity and Development, I decided to combine my interest in cash transfer programs and HIV risks facing young women in Africa by designing and implementing a large cash transfer experiment in Malawi between 2008-2010. I have since conducted a number of cluster-randomized field experiments on a range of topics, including an adaptive experiment in Cameroon, where we trialed approaches to increase the take-up of modern contraceptives among the clients of a Gynaecology, Obstetrics, and Pediatrics Hospital in Yaoundé. 

I am a co-founder of and a contributor to the Development Impact blog. You can see a post marking my last day at the World Bank here.

These days, I am also interested in the economics of animal welfare, and vegan cooking. 

Below are some links that you might be interested in...

My World Bank Page

My Google Scholar Profile

Policy Research Talk: Should We Just Give People Cash?

PBS NewsHour Weekend: Group Gives Cash Aid to Rural Kenyans, then Studies its Effects.

Faculti.net interview: "Children on the Move: Progressive Redistribution of Humanitarian Cash Transfers among Refugees"

Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast - Tech increases access to contraceptives in Cameroon

Golub Capital Social Impact Lab @ Stanford GSB (Medium): Helping Nurses Help Patients with Personalized Counseling in Cameroon

The Lancet: Sarah Baird: understanding, action, and optimism