The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than 1,000 researchers at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than 1,000 researchers at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.
Our affiliated professors are based at over 120 universities and conduct randomized evaluations around the world to design, evaluate, and improve programs and policies aimed at reducing poverty. They set their own research agendas, raise funds to support their evaluations, and work with J-PAL staff on research, policy outreach, and training.
Our research, policy, and training work is fundamentally better when it is informed by a broad range of perspectives.
J-PAL Affiliated Professor
Bruce A. Beal, Robert L. Beal, and Alexander S. Beal Associate Professor of Global Health
Harvard School of Public Health
Jessica Cohen is the Bruce A. Beal, Robert L. Beal, and Alexander S. Beal Associate Professor of Global Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. Her research interests include evaluation of maternal and child health programs and policies in sub-Saharan Africa. She has conducted a number of field trials in Africa on malaria, exploring issues related to technology adoption, messaging, and behavior change, pharmaceutical supply chains, and sustainable financing. Her current work explores the role of (mis)perceptions of malaria risk on behavior and policy-making and methods to improve the quality of care received at childbirth and in the early postnatal period.