Susan Marie Jekielek, Ph.D.

Susan Marie Jekielek, Ph.D., joined PDB as a program director in 2023. Her research interests include social and economic disparity, evidence-based policy and program development, child and family well-being, work and family, early care and education, data collection, and data science, including open science and data sharing. 

Prior to joining NICHD, Dr. Jekielek held several research positions. She directed operations of the education data archives at the University of Michigan's Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, where her work focused on data sharing, secure use of sensitive and restricted data, and research transparency. She also worked at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a federal project officer, overseeing a portfolio of policy research on families and early care and education, and also at Child Trends, a non-partisan policy research think tank. 

Dr. Jekielek holds a Ph.D. in sociology from The Ohio State University, with a specialization in population, health, and the life course. She holds a B.A. in sociology and women’s studies from the University of Michigan.