
Cheng Chow is a PhD student in Social Work. His research lies at the intersection of immigration, health disparities, and social policy. His work seeks to advance health equity by examining how policy environments, service infrastructures, as well as social and cultural determinants shape the lived experiences of immigrants, refugees, and racialized communities.
His scholarship spans three interconnected levels:
(1) Macro: structural and institutional drivers of health and healthcare disparities among immigrant and ethnic minority populations;
(2) Meso: development, implementation, and evaluation of community-engaged, culturally responsive models of care for underserved groups;
(3) Micro: acculturation processes, immigrant life course trajectories, and racial/ethnic health disparities.
Methodologically, Cheng employs mixed methods, causal inference, and policy analysis, complemented by data science tools and critical theoretical frameworks. He has conducted research in both local and global contexts, including community-based studies in the U.S. and longitudinal and ethnographic fieldwork in Southeast Asia. His work has appeared in Health Policy, Social Science & Medicine, and the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, and has earned honors such as the APPAM Equity & Inclusion Student Fellowship and the W. Parker Frisbie Best Publication Award.
He is currently a doctoral student at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, a graduate trainee at the Population Research Center, and a graduate affiliate with the Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice. He is also completing graduate portfolio programs in Asian American Studies.
News and updates
2025 Updating
- July 2025: I was invited to present at the People’s Community Clinic to develop and validate SDOH screening tools.
- June 2025: I am honored to receive the 2025 W. Parker Frisbie Outstanding Publication Award from the Population Research Center for my sole-authored paper in Health Policy.
- June 2025: I was invited to present at the Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission, City of Austin, to discuss the progress of Asian American Quality of Life Study 2025.
- June 2025: I am excited that two of my abstracts have been accepted for oral presentations at the 2025 APHA Annual Meeting. I look forward to connecting with scholars in Washington, D.C.
- June 2025: I attended the Future of Families Summer Data Workshop hosted by Columbia Population Research Center at Columbia University.
- May 2025: Our paper "A narrative review on shifting practice and policy around social determinants of health (SDOH) screenings: Expanding the role of social workers in healthcare settings in the U.S.” was published in Healthcare.
- April 2025: My sole-authored paper "Unveiling patterns and drivers of immigrant health integration policies: A model-based cluster and panel data analysis in MIPEX countries” was published in Health Policy.
- March 2025: I received a grant from the Health Communication Scholars Program at Moody College of Communication, to investigate digital health literacy among Asian populations.
- March 2025: I presented our poster on digital health inequalities among immigrants at the St David's CHPR 23rd Annual Conference.
- January 2025: I presented three posters, one on health policy and two on digital health, at the SSWR 2025 Conference in Seattle, WA.
2024
- December 2024: We were awarded a pilot research grant from the St. David’s CHPR to understand health needs among Asian and Asian American communities.
- November 2024: I was honored to be invited along with Dr. Shetal Vohra-Gupta to collaborate with the Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission, for the initiative of Asian American Quality of Life Study 2025.
- November 2024: I contributed to the technical report for IOM on TB prevention policy in GMS countries.
- October 2024: Our paper “Gendered outcomes of parental migration on Thai youth’s transitions to adulthood: a longitudinal perspective” was published in Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.
- August 2024: I am very excited to start my PhD in Social Work at UT Austin with generous support from the Graduate School Recruitment Fellowship.