Welcome!

Hi! I am Nari. In Fall 2025, I will start as an Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Michigan.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My research aims to advance behavioral health equity and promote well-being in digital contexts among immigrant and ethnic minority communities through the application of data-driven and computational methods. I further investigate how culturally and linguistically responsive and accessible models of care can be implemented through digital technology.

Broadly, my scholarship focuses on three interconnected areas:
(1) macro- and meso-level factors that contribute to mental health disparities and service utilization among immigrant and ethnic minority populations;
(2) the potential of technology to enhance access to and delivery of mental health services for underserved communities; and
(3) the application of data science methodologies to social work and mental health services research, including natural language processing, geospatial analytics, and the use of large-scale administrative and digital trace data.

My first-authored papers have been published in journals such as Psychiatric Services, Social Science & Medicine, Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, and Digital Health. My dissertation research has been awarded and funded by Grand Challenges for Social Workthe American Psychological Association, and the NYU Migration Network. I have received national awards and scholarships in Korea from the Migration Research and Training Centre, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the Ministry of Education.

Methodologically, I am interested in multilevel modeling, geospatial approaches, and computational social science methods tailored to social work research. At NYU, I was selected as the inaugural predoctoral fellow at the Constance and Martin Silver Center on Data Science and Social Equity. I also co-organized the Summer Institute in Computational Social Science (SICSS)–NYU Silver, focusing on data science for social good.

Outside of research, I serve as a board member of Migration to Asia Peace and a research committee member of Mustard Seed Generation. I received a PhD in Social Work from New York University and an MA in Social Welfare and a BA in Sociology from Ewha Womans University in South Korea.

RECENT NEWS

2025
2024
2023