Beaver College of Health Sciences

Dr. Leah Hamilton is a Professor in the Department of Social Work at Appalachian State University. She is currently working with close to 1.5 million dollars in external and internal grant funding; she has published one solo authored book with Palgrave MacMillan and co-authored a second book with NASW press; she has published 28 peer-reviewed articles in quality journals and 22 other articles in various other publications (with 5 more manuscripts under review); she has presented 47 papers and sessions nationally and internationally; she is a Faculty Affiliate of the Social Policy Institute of Washington University in St. Louis; she is a Senior Fellow of the Jain Family Institute; she is a Research Fellow of the Appalachian Institute for Health and Wellness here at App State; and her work has received media coverage in publications and broadcasts including The Atlantic, The New York Times, Marketplace, CNBC, PBS News Hour (a personal favorite of mine), National Public Radio (another favorite), the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and The Chicago Tribune. This level of publicity does not typically happen for faculty. However, Dr. Hamilton is not typical. Not only is she doing the hard work of conducting high quality research, publishing papers, presenting her work, and writing scholarly articles and books, she is doing work that has a significant and compelling impact on society. Her work focuses on how welfare policy prevents low-income families from reaching financial stability and explores alternative policies, such as universal basic income, that can alter the course of their lives. 

 Some of Dr. Hamiltons recent funding was highlighted in our November 2023 issue, including: $582,855 for the evaluation of Creatives Rebuild New York and $50,000 from the Center for Science in the Public Interest for her work on In Her Hands. I hope you will take the time to listen to her discuss her work in our podcast.

Listen to an interview with Dr. Hamilton on From Here to Health.