Dr Pongou's research addresses questions that lie at the intersection of political economy, health human capital, and economic development. His work focuses on the microeconomic analysis of formal and informal institutions, and on the effects of institutions on various aspects of individual and societal wellbeing. His recent research analyzes sexual network formation and the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases in multiethnic societies. This research uses data from both developing and developed countries. He is also currently investigating the institutional and historical causes of important demographic outcomes including fertility behavior, human capital accumulation in children and adults, and female empowerment in African countries. Dr Pongou’s empirical work on the impacts of institutions is informed by his extensive theoretical research in the areas of political design, voting, and fairness in resource allocation. His analytical approach is interdisciplinary, combining economic theory, game theory, social network theory, and quantitative methods. Dr Pongou is a recipient of multiple awards and fellowships. He is a Visiting Scientist at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He was formerly a Visiting Scholar in the MIT Department of Economics. At Harvard, he was a Bell Fellow at the Center for Population and Development Studies, a Fellow in the Takemi Program in International Health, and a Scholar in the Program on the Global Demography of Aging. He has served as a Consultant for the World Bank. He is an Affiliate of the Harvard Institute for Quantitative Social Science and the Director of Research at the Global Economic Institute for Africa.