received a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Washington in 2007, and will be on leave from the Department of Political Science at San Francisco State University, where he is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy and State Politics.  His research focuses on public policy innovation and political decision-making in America. His book Policy Diffusion Dynamics in America (Cambridge University Press, 2010), integrates research from agenda setting and epidemiology to model factors that shape the speed and scope of public policy diffusion. As a scholar, he will explore how American state governments respond to complex health policy threats, initially focusing on state vaccination programs.