Marilyn Sinkewicz plans to study gender disparities in health conditions and health seeking behaviors, in her role as a Health & Society Scholar. Her particular focus is on understanding the social determinants and consequences of the physical and mental health status of men, and within this category race-ethnic and socioeconomic disparities. Marilyn holds an MSW from Columbia University and will receive her Ph.D. in Social Policy from the Columbia University School of Social Work in July 2005. Marilyn’s dissertation concerns the mental health of men. This study constructs a profile of the mental health status of urban American fathers. It investigates the predictors of mental disorders and their comorbidity in this population, and the consequences of these disorders for family formation and employment. Marilyn’s broader research interests include comparative cross national social welfare expenditures, including health expenditures and other dimensions of the social safety net. She is also interested in research methodologies pertaining to missing data. Previously Marilyn was a partner in an information technology consulting firm. She is currently working on several social welfare initiatives in the U.S. and in sub Saharan Africa.