Ruopeng An, PhD
President
Dr. Ruopeng An is Constance and Martin Silver Endowed Professor in Data Science and Prevention and Director of the Constance and Martin Silver Center on Data Science and Social Equity at New York University. A data scientist and social epidemiologist, he develops AI-enabled methods and policy evaluations to reduce public health disparities and advance social equity, with emphasis on ethics, equity, and transparency. He is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Health Behavior and the American College of Epidemiology. His research has been supported by federal agencies and public/private partners, including OpenAI, Abbott, and Amgen. He serves on grant-review and expert panels for the NIH, CDC, NSF, HHS, USDA, and the French National Research Agency. Recognized among Elsevier’s top 2% most-cited scientists, his work has been featured by TIME, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Reuters, NPR, and CNN. His forthcoming books include Building an AI-Ready University: A Holistic Strategy for Higher Education Leaders (Routledge, 2026) and Artificial Intelligence in Social Work: Bridging Technology and Humanity (Springer Nature, 2026), co-edited with Dr. Michael Lindsey. Before joining NYU, Dr. An was Faculty Lead in Public Health Sciences and Faculty Fellow for AI Innovations in Education at Washington University in St. Louis, where he founded certificate programs in artificial intelligence and data science. He holds a PhD in Policy Analysis from the Pardee RAND Graduate School, an MPP from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, and a BA in Political Science and Public Administration from Peking University.
Joyce Lee, PhD
Vice President
Dr. Joyce Lee is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Child and Family Wellbeing Laboratory at The Ohio State University College of Social Work. Dr. Lee is a child welfare and family strengthening scholar, with expertise in research that promotes child health and strengthens family well-being through the use of various artificial intelligence (AI) and data science methods (e.g., supervised and unsupervised machine learning, natural language processing, generative AIs). She is also interested in the ethical use of AI in social work research. She currently serves on the Board of the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) as a Director-At-Large and has been leading efforts related to the forthcoming SSWR Research Leadership Institute Taskforce and AI Taskforce. She is also a founding member of the Social Work AI Network (SWAN). Dr. Lee received her Joint PhD in Social Work and Developmental Psychology at the University of Michigan, where she also obtained her Data Science Certificate from the Michigan Institute for Data & AI in Society (MIDAS).
Fan Yang, PhD
Secretary
Dr. Fan Yang is an Assistant Professor at the University Of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign School of Social Work. Dr. Yang’s research explores the prevention of risky health behaviors and the promotion of protective behaviors that contribute to better health outcomes, particularly among marginalized populations. Her interdisciplinary work integrates social work and technology, with a focus on leveraging AI to improve access to health care services and enhance the quality of health interventions. Specifically, Dr. Yang’s research spans three key areas: utilizing AI as an analytical tool to examine socio-ecological factors in disease prevention; analyzing the impact of AI on risky health behaviors among at-risk populations; and developing accessible, cost-effective AI-driven health care solutions. Additionally, her work addresses the ethical implications of AI, including data privacy and algorithmic bias, with a focus on reducing health care disparities and advancing health equity for underserved communities.