Tiantian (Vicky) Tang is a Ph.D. student, specializing in Child and Family Policy, with a focus on children’s health, nutrition, and welfare. Her research examines how social policies and program implementation shape early-life conditions and contribute to inequalities in child development, particularly among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations.

Vicky’s research agenda is deeply informed by her academic training and lived experiences, which have motivated her sustained interest in both traditional and emerging childhood risks. Using quantitative methods, including experimental and quasi-experimental designs, and computational text analysis, she studies how families experience and navigate nutrition, health, and child welfare systems, and how policy design and implementation influence children’s long-term outcomes. In addition, her work explores emerging risks to child well-being, including child labor and child exploitation within family and digital contexts, such as the rise of “kidfluencers” on social media and the regulatory challenges these developments pose for child protection and labor policy.

Before beginning her doctoral studies at the Humphrey School, Vicky earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in Social Security from Nanjing University in China.