Research Professionals

Prior to joining the IGM Sebastian earned a Master’s degree in Finance & Economics (with Distinction) from the London School of Economics and Political Science as well as two undergraduate degrees in Economics and Applied Mathematics from the University of Mannheim. He also gained work experience working as intern for NERA Economic Consulting in Berlin and the Financial Services Consulting team of KPMG in Frankfurt.

Previously, she assisted Professor Eric Budish with his research in market design. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Dickinson College in 2016 with a BSc in Economics and Mathematics. Prior to IGM she worked for Moody’s Analytics as a research intern. Her current research interests include econometrics as well as monetary macroeconomics.

After working with IGM for two years, she entered the PhD program at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

While at Chicago Booth, he assisted Professor Sufi with his research on the effect of gas price changes on consumption behavior and working on the database of Bureau of Labor Statistics to construct a comprehensive dataset of inflation, employment and wages.

Park graduated from Korea University with bachelor's degrees in Business Administration and Financial Engineering. He also earned a MA degree in Economics from Duke University. His research interests include the development of capitalism, corporate governance, investment, and household finance.

After working with IGM for two years, he entered the PhD program at the University of Chicago.

Tang received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and a Master of Financial Engineering from University of California, Los Angeles. Before joining IGM, he was a research assistant of professor Hanno Lustig at UCLA and worked in a hedge fund as a summer associate.

After working with IGM for one year, he entered the PhD in finance program at the University of California, Los Angeles.

He has a BSc in International Economics from Bocconi University of Milan and a MSc in Finance & Economics from the London School of Economics. Before joining the Initiative on Global Markets he spent 1.5 years in London working as a junior economist and strategist for Credit Suisse.

In the fall of 2014, Pellegrino entered the doctoral program at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Devitt graduated from the University of Dublin, Trinity College with a bachelor's degree in electronic and computer engineering (2007) and an MSc in economics (2008). He then worked for two years in energy economics at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) in Dublin before moving to Chicago to join the IGM.

After completing his time at the IGM, he entered the MBA program here at Chicago Booth.

Gamba studied at the University of Bologna, Italy, where she completed both her bachelor's degree (2006) and her master's degree (2008) in economics, with a focus on economic policy. In her thesis, she analyzed the effects of different school quality on economic growth in the Italian regions. During her studies, she participated in academic exchanges at the University of Melbourne in Australia and the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium. Her interests include economics of education and human capital.

He is also coauthoring a working paper on the response of US state economies to natural disasters and the monetary return on FEMA disaster relief with professors Ali Hortaçsu and Tobias Moskowitz.

Jakab graduated from the University of Chicago in 2010 with a major in economics. As an undergraduate he was a research assistant for professor Hortaçsu. His research interests include studying the effect of social interactions on economic decision making.

After his work with the IGM, Jakab went on to pursue his PhD in economics here at the University of Chicago.

Bayot earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in economics with honors from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2008. In 2009, he completed his master's degree in mathematical science, also from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Prior to conducting research in economics, he published in the area of combinatorics/graph theory. His personal research includes assessing the impact of remittances on household child labor decisions in Mexico and finding the friendly-index set of various graphs.

Bayot entered the PhD program in the University of Chicago Department of Economics in the fall of 2009.

Shenoy graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor's degree in economics (with honors and with distinction) in 2008. He wrote his thesis on the integration of world wheat markets.

In the fall of 2010, he entered the doctoral program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Kassabova graduated from the University of Chicago with a double major in economics and Romance languages and literatures (with honors) in 2007.

In 2007, Surajat graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor's degree in economics (with honors) from Carleton College. At Carleton, he was a teaching assistant for Pavel Kapinos. Surajat wrote his senior thesis on the convergence mechanism among core EU members.