Alex Shpenev

Senior Data Research Scientist, Center for Social Norms and Behavioral Dynamics; Lecturer, Master of Behavioral and Decision Sciences

A demographer and sociologist with a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA in statistics from the Wharton School, Dr. Alex Shpenev teaches the MBDS courses Statistical Reasoning for Behavioral Science, Data Science and Quantitative Modeling, and Groups and Networks. Since coming to Penn, his interests have included understanding the educational gradient in health and mortality, specifically at the intersection with the sociology of the family and social networks. As a researcher at the Center for Social Norms and Behavioral Dynamics, Alex investigates how social norms are affected by network and social group structure, specifically in the context of health behaviors and in the context of developing countries.