Doctoral Students - Economics | School of Analytics, Finance and Economics | SIU

Syeda Jahirin Aktari earned her BSS in Economics and MS in Applied Economics from Brac University, Bangladesh. Prior to beginning her PhD program at SIUC in Fall 2022, she worked as a Deputy Manager at BRAC Migration Programme, Bangladesh. Her research interests include Macroeconomics and Development Economics.

Obed Asare graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Statistics from the University of Ghana in 2013. He got a commonwealth shared scholarship to read a Master of Science (MSc) International Finance and Economic Development at the University of Kent and graduated in 2016. Prior to joining the PhD Economics programme at the Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Obed worked with the Trades Union Congress (Ghana) as a researcher for more than six years. He also worked with the Ghana Statistical Service on the Integrated Business Establishment Survey in 2014. His interests include understanding monetary policy frameworks and its transmission in emerging economies, the role of capital flows and the exchange rate in an integrated global economy. Obed is also interested in macroeconomic stabilization policies and the role of fiscal policy in alleviating poverty and inequality in developing economies.

Kofi Asuako is an aspiring research economist specializing in Macro-Finance and Monetary Economics, with deep insights into inflation dynamics, financial markets, and systemic risks. He rigorously explores how financial frictions, monetary factors, and macroeconomic dynamics interact with and influence the business cycle. Equipped with a strong quantitative and analytical foundation, a significant focus of his work is on the sources and propagation of systemic risk and understanding the Macro-Finance feedback loop. Moreover, Kofi critically assess the implications of monetary policy and macroprudential measures on the broader economy's stability and growth trajectories.

Kofi earned his bachelor's degree in economics from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, and furthered his studies with a master's degree in Economics from Eastern Illinois University. 

Lange Chen received her bachelor's and master's degree in accountancy from SIU. She also received a master's degree in economics from SIU. Lange's research interests are in Microeconomics. 

Mahesh Dhole is from India where he earned his Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering and Master of Arts in Economics. In Fall 2022, he joined SIU Carbondale for his PhD in Economics. His research interests include Macroeconomics, Health and Development Economics. He enjoys playing piano, dancing and socializing. 

Richy John was conferred his A.S in Business Administration & Management at Illinois Central College, Peoria. After which he transitioned to SIU Carbondale to obtain a B.S in Finance specializing in Investments and subsequently completed his MBA in Finance at the College of Business & Analytics. With immense Saluki pride he looked no further to start his Ph.D. in Economics at his alma mater in Fall 2023. SIUC means a lot to him owing to the quality of education, amazing faculty & staff, and friendly campus community that accepted him as a non-traditional student. Richy had been part of the Saluki Student Investment Fund (SSIF) during his undergrad. He has represented SIUC as a graduate student in international futures trading competition’s held by the CME Group. Richy had been actively involved at SIUC in academic coaching of provisional students and had been part of the Alumni Engagement Center for academic fundraising. He is also part of honor societies – Phi Theta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Beta Gamma Sigma.

Previously, he worked with banking conglomerate HSBC in security and fraud risk before coming to the U.S to further his studies. His research interests are in International Economics, Financial Economics, Macroeconomics, and Monetary Economics.

Alexa Laska earned her B.S. in Economics and History from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Oneonta in May of 2022, and M.P.S. in Applied Economics and Management (International and Development Economics) from the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University in May of 2023. During the Spring 2022 semester, Alexa was awarded the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence for her commitment to academics and co-curricular involvement in the Oneonta community. In October of 2022, Alexa won third place at the New York State Economics Association Annual Paper Competition for her undergraduate capstone paper discussing early-life adversity and associated obstacles to educational attainment, and their subsequent adult-outcomes across the spectrum of gender identities in the United States.

In the Fall of 2023, she began her PhD studies at SIU and hopes to expand on, and enrich her previous work discussing topics of gender, education, and broader social development areas.

Sunder Regmi received his Master of Business Administration-MBA in Global Leadership and Management degree from Tribhuvan University-Nepal with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) specialization and Master’s in Social Innovation Degree from Handong Global University-South Korea with Social Entrepreneurship Specialization.

He was admitted to SIUC’s Master of Science in Economics STEM program in Fall 2021 with a full tuition waiver and a Graduate Assistantship. After his successful completion of MS in Economics Degree, his dedication and commitment towards Economics led to an admission to Doctoral program.
Prior coming to USA, he taught mathematics for lower secondary level, worked as an Advertisement production and editor in Television, served nation as a short-term policeman and taught management in private college.

His research interests are in Monetary Economics, Macroeconomics and Foreign Direct Investments.

Agossou Justin TOVILODE is a Ph.D. student from Benin Republic (West Africa) where he earned his his initial master's degree in agricultural economics. Before coming to the U.S., he dedicated nearly 9 years to impactful work within International Non-Governmental Organizations, undertaking diverse responsibilities and traversing various West African nations. Benefiting from a Fulbright scholarship program, he pursued his second master's degree in Agribusiness Economics at SIU in 2022 before transitioning to the School of Analytic, Finance and Economics for his Ph.D.