Her research focuses on the economics of education as well as rural development and urban transitions in China. In recent work, she has explored how molecular genetic data can be used to shed light on how poor health affects academic outcomes in adolescence. Prior to joining the faculty at Queen’s, Prof. Ding spent two years at the University of Michigan as the Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow. Several of her research projects involve collecting microdata in China and her research has been published in the Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Health Economics, China Economic Review among other outlets. She received her PhD in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh in 2002 after completing a B.A. in Economics at Fudan University.