She conducts quantitative, policy-based research on child and family wellbeing, especially in the areas of health and household economics. Her work has been featured in high-quality academic journals, such as the Journal of Health Economics and the Journal of Applied Econometrics, selective conferences, and the media. Before joining OSU, Lauren completed a post-doctoral fellowship in inequality and social mobility at the Martin Prosperity Institute at University of Toronto. Lauren completed her B.A. in philosophy at the University of Toronto, an M.S. in applied economics at OSU and her Ph.D. in Policy Analysis at Cornell University.