Regina S. Baker is an Associate Professor of Sociology. Prior to joining UNC-CH in 2023, she was previously an Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research seeks to understand the factors that shape socioeconomic conditions and disparities across people, places, and time. Her current research areas include poverty and poverty risks across children and families, historical and institutional mechanisms of inequality, and racial and place-based disparities in socioeconomic and health outcomes. She received her Ph.D. in sociology from Duke University, Masters in Social Work from the University of Georgia, and Bachelors in Sociology from Mercer University.