Research Teams

Dr Maxim Ananyev

Associate Professor Ferdi Botha

Associate Professor Botha is a Principal Research Fellow at the Melbourne Institute. His research focuses on the economics of mental health and wellbeing more generally, including financial- and subjective wellbeing. By means of academic and engagement activities, he aims to improve the understanding of mental health and wellbeing in Australia.

Mr Taylor Ey

Taylor Ey is a Gen AI Engineer and Economist at the Melbourne Institute, interested in the intersection of economics and AI. His work focuses on crafting AI economic research tools for research and public policy, and reasoning agents with Bayesian reasoning skills.

Mr Daniel Fischer

Daniel is a Senior Foundation Fellow with expertise in single-unit record data architecture and has contributed to various projects related to policy impact. He is a published co-author on a data description paper related to ATO data assets. Daniel is passionate about mentoring and actively shares knowledge with his peers.

Dr Arianna Gatta

Dr Arianna Gatta is an applied social scientist specialising in labour economics and program evaluation. My work focuses on how gatekeepers, such as employers and public administration, shape opportunities for marginalised groups. I use quantitative and experimental methods to study discrimination, employment services and job quality, with a growing focus on Indigenous economic empowerment.

Dr Ujjwal KC

Dr Ujjwal KC, Research Fellow (Academic Specialist) at the Melbourne Institute, excels in data science, analytics, interactive visualisation, and artificial intelligence. With extensive experience, he designs engaging data products for extended outreach with dynamic, user-driven interfaces, delivering insights on disadvantage and wellbeing. He is passionate about aiding socio-economic policy research with emerging technologies.

Associate Professor Jan Kabátek

Associate Professor Kabátek is a Principal Research Fellow with a background in economics and applied econometrics. In his research, Jan leverages large administrative registers to yield data-driven insights into domains of public policy including labour, family, gender and ageing. Jan has Stata expertise and is passionate about improving research infrastructures through the use of AI.

Ms Yashu Kalera

Ms Kalera is an economist passionate about using data to drive meaningful change. Blending academic insight with industry experience, she brings clarity to complex issues across education, Indigenous affairs, and market strategy. Her work bridges policy, research, and storytelling to inform thoughtful, inclusive, and impactful decision-making.

Dr Steeve Marchand

Dr Steeve Marchand is an economist specialising in labour economics, program evaluation, and criminal justice policy. He is particularly passionate about improving outcomes for young people facing disadvantage in the labour market and understanding how social rehabilitation programs and correctional policies can reduce recidivism.

Associate Professor Cain Polidano

Associate Professor Polidano is an expert in education and skills policy, labour markets and Indigenous economics. His research measures causal relationships that improve policy and the life trajectories of disadvantaged Australians. He works with government, communities and businesses to maximise policy impact.

Dr Kushneel Prakash

Dr Prakash is an applied economist working in wellbeing, health and energy economics research using large survey data. He is an award-winning early career researcher with his PhD thesis winning him the distinguished Mollie-Holman Medal. He is passionate about advancing wellbeing research in Australia and growing its recognition in Pacific Island countries.

Dr Karinna Saxby

Dr Saxby is a Health Economist at the Melbourne Institute. Karinna is passionate about generating robust evidence to inform health policy in Australia, with a particular focus on Medicare reform and priority populations including people with disability, LGBT populations, and Indigenous peoples.

Professor John de New

Professor de New is Team Leader for Wellbeing and Economic Empowerment and the Managing Editor for The Australian Economic Review (our journal, published by Wiley). He is the author of the panel data package for Stata called ‘PanelWhiz’ and was previously Chair of Economic Policy: Competition Theory and Policy at Ruhr University, Germany.