Man-Kit Lei

Associate Professor

Man Kit (Karlo) Lei is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Georgia. Dr. Lei's teaching and research areas encompass diverse topics, including the sociology of health, criminology, structural inequality, family and neighborhood studies, and quantitative methods.

Dr. Lei's research stands at the intersection of various disciplines, as he employs diverse theories and methodologies to explore the social determinants of health, aging, and well-being throughout the human lifespan. His particular focus lies in studying minority populations and disadvantaged neighborhoods. Recently, he has been driven by three fundamental questions that shape his endeavors: 1. How does a deeper understanding of the social determinants influence overall well-being? 2. What are the mechanisms and reasons behind the impact of early adversity experiences on well-being across one's life journey? 3. Why do specific individuals, when exposed to social adversity, experience adverse outcomes while others do not?

His contributions to the field have been acknowledged through numerous publications in esteemed social science journals, including American Sociological Review, Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Justice Quarterly, Psychological Medicine, Social Science & Medicine, Journal of Family Psychology, and Health Psychology. Furthermore, Dr. Lei has been recognized with several prestigious awards, such as the Gene Carte Award, the Joan Petersilia Outstanding Article Award from the American Society of Criminology, the Donal MacNamara Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and the Best Paper Award from the American Sociological Association's Section on Evolution, Biology & Society. He was honored with the Charles B. Knapp Early Career Scholar Award from the University of Georgia. This distinguished award, named in memory of the University's 20th President, acknowledges exceptional accomplishments and demonstrates the potential for future success in scholarship, creative work, or research by an early-career faculty member in the social and behavioral sciences. In addition, a recent article by Dr. Lei was selected as Editor’s Choice in the Journals of Gerontology: Series A.

Education:
  • Ph.D., Sociology, University of Georgia, 2013
  • M.A., Sociology, National Taiwan University, 2001
  • LL.B., College of Law (Economic and Financial Law Division), National Taiwan University, 1999
Research Areas:
Medical Sociology
Inequality
Family, Life Course, and Aging
Crime, Law, and Deviance
Grants:
  • 2025-2026. Principal Investigator, "Neighborhood Stress and Mental Health: The Protective Role of Couple Relationship Functioning in Rural African American Communities.” Mental Research Institute.
  • 2024-2026. Investigator, “Adverse Childhood Experiences and Accelerated Epigenetic Aging in Adulthood: A Longitudinal Investigation of Resilience Among Black Population.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  • 2022-2027. Co-Investigator, "Stress, Weathering, and Blood-Based Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease: A Longitudinal Study of Low Income, Aging African Americans." National Institute on Aging.
  • 2018-2023. Co-Investigator, "Using a Randomized Prevention Trial to Understand the Health Benefits of Supportive Couple Relationships among Rural African American Adults." National Institute on Aging.
  • 2018-2023. Co-Investigator, "Contextual and Health Behavior Effects on Epigenetic Aging Among African Americans." National Cancer Institute.
  • 2020-2022. Principal Investigator, Workgroup on Families, Communities, and Health, Office of Research, University of Georgia.
  • 2017-2022. Co-Investigator, "Psychosocial Context and the Biological Clock: Changes in Weathering during Middle Age." National Institute on Aging.
  • 2019-2021. Co-Investigator, “Childhood Stressors and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Adulthood: A Longitudinal Investigation of Divergent Explanatory Models.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
Labs:
Families, Communities, and Health Workshop
Selected Publications:
Of Note:

Honors

  • 2025 Editor's Choice Article, The Journals of Gerontology: Series A
  • 2022 Charles B. Knapp Early Career Scholar Award, University of Georgia
  • 2022. Donal MacNamara Award, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences
  • 2014. B. O. Williams Award for Dissertation Research, Department of Sociology, University of Georgia.
  • 2013. Joan Petersilia Outstanding Article Award, American Society of Criminology.
  • 2013. Certificate of Excellence, Department of Sociology, University of Georgia.
  • 2012. First Prize, Gene Carte Student Paper Award, American Society of Criminology.
  • 2012. The Best Graduate Student Paper Award, Evolution, Biology & Society Section, American Sociological Association.
  • 2011.  B. O. Williams Award for Thesis Research, Department of Sociology, University of Georgia.

Elected Offices and Editorial Experience

  • 2021-present. Associate Editor, Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine
  • 2023-present. Editorial Board Member, Journal of Health and Social Behavior
Courses Regularly Taught:
SOCI 3580
SOCI 8200
SOCI 6620
SOCI 6630
SOCI 8630

Diana Graizbord

Associate Professor

Diana Graizbord is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Latin American and Caribbean Studies. During the 2025-2026 academic year she will be a Visiting Fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Previously Diana was a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. 

Diana earned her Ph.D in Sociology from Brown University where she was an NSF-IGERT Fellow in Development and Inequality in the Global South. She also holds degrees from The New School’s Milano School for International Affairs, Management and Policy and Sarah Lawrence College. Her research and teaching interests include Theory, Political Sociology, Sociology of Knowledge, Science and Technology Studies, and Globalization and Development. 

Her first book, Indicators of Democracy: The Politics and Promise of Evaluation Expertise in Mexico, was published by Stanford University Press in 2024. 

 

Education:
  • Ph.D., Sociology, Brown University, 2017
  • M.A., International Affairs, The New School, 2010
  • B.A., Liberal Arts, Sarah Lawrence College, 2002
Research Areas:
Sociology of Science
Political Sociology
Globalization
Development and Social Change
Culture
Selected Publications:

Graizbord, Diana. 2024. INDICATORS OF DEMOCRACY: The Politics and Promise of Evaluation Expertise in Mexico. Stanford University Press.

Graizbord, Diana. 2023. “State Calculations and the Promise of Replication.” Public Culture 35:3:331–342. 

Nelson, Alondra, C. Thompson, S. van Wichelen, J. Rohde, J. Barkan, C. Sims, and D. Graizbord. 2023. “Science and the State.” Public Culture 35:3: 279–288.  

Graizbord, Diana and L. de Souza Leão. “The Political Work of 'Culture' in Struggles to Reform the Mexican State.” Politics & Society 54(4): 567–596.

 

Of Note:

During the 2025-2026 academic year she will be a Visiting Fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame, joining a dynamic interdisciplinary group of scholars, practitioners, journalists, and activists. 

 

Sociology Graduation Event

The Sociology Department warmly invites all recent or pending graduates – Fall 2015, Spring 2016, or Summer 2016 – and their guests to join faculty and staff for our Sociology Graduation Event.  



The event will be held on Friday, May 13th (the same day as spring graduation), from 2:30 to 3:30 in the Miller Learning Center (MLC), room 148.   The building has elevators and is accessible for students or guests who have mobility challenges.



Food Chains Documentary

We will be showing the documentary "Food Chains" this Friday evening (March 25th) at 6pm in MLC 214. This is part of our film series on Latin American Sustainable Agriculture that is hosted by the Georgia Workshop on Culture, Power, and History and sponsored by the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute. Please join us in watching this film and participating in the discussion with the panel that will follow. Also, please invite your students and others from UGA and the Athens community to attend.

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