Professor
Department of Sociology
The Ohio State University​​

Hui Zheng is a demographer, ​social epidemiologist, and quantitative social scientist. His research examines the causes, heterogeneity, inequality, and trends in population health and aging, and develops and evaluates statistical and demographic methods to interrogate the demographic, sociological, epidemiological and biological utility of various theories and conceptualizations of health and mortality. It encompasses two interconnected areas: social and policy determinants of health, and population process of aging and mortality. 

​He has investigated the health impacts of various social structures and institutions (e.g., income inequality, medical expansion, work environment, and marriage market); the trends in socioeconomic and demographic health disparities; the patterns and heterogeneity of aging, mortality, and life span; the influence of life course dynamics of obesity on mortality; and the role of selection in health production and aging process.  Methodologically, he is interested in developing and evaluating methods to better understand the interplay between social-epidemiological changes, population dynamics, and population heterogeneity and how they impact trends and disparities in health, mortality, and life expectancy. Current projects address rising health challenges in the U.S.; nativity disparities in labor market, aging, and health; and the determinants and consequences of cognitive aging across the life course.

His work has been supported by grants from CDC (National Center for Health Statistics) and NIH (NIA, NICHD), covered by major media outlets including Time, New York Times, The Atlantic, USA Today, Newsweek, and The Times (UK), and has received Eliot Freidson Outstanding Publication Award Honorable Mention (2019) from ASA Medical Sociology Section and IPUMS Health Surveys Research Award (2022). He is currently a Deputy-Editor for Demography, was a consulting editor for American Journal of Sociology, served in the editorial boards of Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Journal of Marriage and Family, and Social Science Research, and was a council member of medical sociology section of American Sociological Association. 

News and updates

05-2025: Paper with Leafia Ye on U.S.-born Older Asians' diminishing health advantage was published in The Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences. 
03-2025: Paper with Wei-hsin Yu on immigrant morbidity-mortality paradox was published in Demography.
03-2025: Paper with Yoonyoung Choi and Taehyun Kim on narrowing, stalling, and widening Black-White mortality gap was published in Demographic Research.
02-2025: Paper with Ming Wen and others on contribution of social and lifestyle factors to changes in cognitive functioning was published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. 
10-2024: Had a great visit to Case Western Reserve University, and gave a talk at the Department of Sociology.
07-2024: Had a great visit to Academia Sinica in Taiwan, and gave a presentation at Institute of European and American Studies.
06-2024: Had a great visit to my alma mater, Renmin University of China, and gave a talk at School of Social Research.
04-2024: Paper with Yao Lu and Man Yao on emerging health disparities among college graduates was published in Social Science Research.
02-2024: Paper with my student Yoonyoung Choi on reevaluating the "deaths of despair" narrative was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
01-2024: Gave a virtual talk at Department of Sociology, Zhejiang University.
11-2023: Had a great visit to Princeton University, where I gave a talk at the Office of Population Research.
10-2023: Delivered a keynote speech at the annual conference held by the Center for Aging and Policy Studies (CAPS). CAPS is a collaborative initiative involving three upstate New York universities—Syracuse University, Cornell University, and the State University of New York at Albany.
10-2023: After several years, "Understanding the Health Decline in Boomers to Millennials" finally finds its perfect home at Social Science & Medicine.
09-2023: Had a great visit to University of Macau, where I gave a talk at the department of sociology.
05-2023: Will become a Deputy-Editor for Demography, the flagship journal of the Population Association of America.
05-2023: Will join the Program Committee for 2024 Population Association of America Annual Meeting, which will take place in Columbus, Ohio in April 2024!
04-2023: My paper with Wei-hsin Yu on immigrants' persistent mortality advantages received the IPUMS Health Surveys Research Award.
02-2023: Interviewed by NBC News on “Education may be the best way to protect against cognitive decline, new research suggests.”
01-2023: Gave a virtual talk at The University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Social Sciences.
12-2022: Gave a virtual talk at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Division of Social Science.
11-2022: My paper with Vincent Roscigno and Martha Crowley on workplace age discrimination and its social-psychological costs was published in Society and Mental Health.
10-2022: Had a great visit to Penn, where I gave a talk at the Population Studies Center seminar.
10-2022: My paper with Wei-hsin Yu on immigrants' persistent mortality advantages was published in Demography.
09-2022: My paper with Wei-hsin Yu on immigrants' survival advantage after unemployment and the racial and gender heterogeneity therein was published in a special issue of Journal of Social Issues: Well-being of Migrants and Immigrants: Perspectives in Asia and from Asians in North America.
06-2022: Gave a virtual talk at my alma mater, Renmin University of China.
05-2022: Was promoted to the rank of Professor.
05-2022: My research on the long-lasting impact of exposure to rising income inequality during childhood on declining Americans' health was reported in The Hill.​
05-2022: "Rising childhood income inequality and declining Americans’ health​" was published in Social Science & Medicine.