Dr. Jennifer A. Heissel is a senior economist at the RAND Corporation. Heissel studies how programs, policies, and contexts affect families and children. Her diverse research examines relationships between family dynamics, health, and performance. Her recent projects focused on the military setting, with studies on the prevalence of food insecurity, how parenthood relates to job performance and mental health care utilization, and access to and use of psychiatrists among U.S. service members. Another strand of work has studied the effects of school policies (e.g., school start times, school turnaround programs) and other outside forces (e.g., a sibling’s teen parenthood, pollution, high-stakes exams) on academic performance in civilian schools. A final strand of research includes the collection of sleep and cortisol data to study the outcomes of children and teens.  Before joining RAND, Heissel was an associate professor of Manpower & Economics at the Naval Postgraduate School. She holds an M.P.P. from Duke University and a Ph.D. in human development and social policy from Northwestern University. Jennifer Heissel joined IZA as a Research Affiliate in April 2023.