Research
This research quantifies micro-level pedestrian streetscape features using Vision Language models and examines both mediation pathways and predictive relationships among pedestrian streetscape, safety perceptions, and walking willingness using SEM, GPBoost, and SHAP analysis. Findings highlight the importance of features such as curb ramps, traffic controls, and green spaces in shaping perceived safety, which in turn drives people’s willingness to walk — offering actionable insights for encouraging walking behavior.
Poster presented at TRB 2026
This study examines how healthcare deserts and their rural–urban and socioeconomic drivers vary across spatiotemporal scales and healthcare provider types. Using the state of Virginia as a case study, the work emphasizes the need for high-resolution spatial analysis to accurately locate healthcare disadvantaged areas.
County vs. tract-level healthcare desert patterns
Proximity enables interaction, but what else influences where people go? Using 19.8 million prenatal trips to maternal healthcare facilities across Florida (2016-2022), constructed from patient hospital electronic visitation records, we examine how spatial, socioeconomic, and facility characteristics influence travel. We estimate a negative binomial model of trip counts incorporating origin-, destination- and flow-based predictors. While distance remains a dominant deterrent, its influence is conditioned by rurality, facility capacity, and community health context. These patterns underscore that prenatal maternal travel reflects broader contextual factors beyond geographic distance.
Prenatal OD flows in Florida
My doctoral dissertation focuses on pioneering a novel concept and measure known as inclusive accessibility. This approach integrates people’s diverse travel choices and experiences into advancing space-time accessibility models. I posit this measure as a more realistic and socially aware representation of accessibility, as it distinguishes between the geographic spaces that are physically and perceptually accessible to individuals and social groups. My dissertation also demonstrates how inclusive accessibility can guide transportation interventions for marginalized communities.
Spatio-social variations in walking perceptions and their influence on inclusive access
Post Doctoral Research Scientist. (August 2023 - July 2024)
Center for Injury Research and Policy, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (AWRINCH), OH, United States
Project title: Intervention to improve driving practices among high-risk teen drivers
Supervisor/PI: Ginger Yang
Funded by: National Institutes of Health (NIH) - The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Graduate Research Assistant. (August 2022 - August 2023)
Center for Urban and Regional Analysis, The Ohio State University, OH, United States
Project title: Built environment influences reckless driving behavior
Supervisor/PI: Harvey J. Miller and Ginger Yang (Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio)
Funded by: Translational Data Analytics Institute at The OSU
Graduate Research Assistant. (May 2021 – August 2022)
Department of Geography, The Ohio State University, OH, United States
Project: Estimating exposure and health impacts of traffic-related air pollution during daily travel
Supervisor/PI: Huyen TK Le and Joseph Bayer
Funded by: Sustainability Institute seed grant award
GIS Research Assistant. (May 2018 – July 2018)
The DIGIT Lab, University of Utah, UT, United States
Project: Producing military standard map series for military training around the world
Supervisor: Phoebe B. Mcneally
Funded by: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
