Cheng Chow is a doctoral candidate in Social Work whose research examines how structural conditions, service systems, and emerging technologies shape healthcare access and health equity. His work focuses on immigrants, refugees, and racialized communities, with an emphasis on how unequal access to resources and institutions translates into disparities in health and healthcare.

His scholarship spans three interconnected areas:
      (1) Structural Determinants of Health and Healthcare Access: how policy environments, institutional arrangements, and material conditions shape health and healthcare disparities;
      (2) Community-Engaged and Culturally Responsive Service Systems: the development, implementation, and evaluation of community-engaged approaches to care that respond to the social, cultural, and structural needs of underserved communities;
      (3) Digital and AI-Mediated Pathways to Care: how digital health technologies and generative AI are reshaping the ways people seek information, support, and care, with attention to linguistic and cultural equity.

Methodologically, Cheng employs mixed methods, causal inference, and policy analysis, complemented by computational approaches and critical theoretical frameworks. He has conducted research in both local and global settings, including community-based studies in the United States and longitudinal and ethnographic research 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 including the APPAM Equity & Inclusion Student Fellowship and the W. Parker Frisbie Outstanding Publication Award.

He is a doctoral candidate at the School of Social Work, a predoctoral 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 and Ethical AI.

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