Weilong is a joint Ph.D. candidate in Demography and Sociology. His research interests center on social demography and the social determinants of health and aging, with a particular focus on the health implications of urbanization and migration in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In his dissertation, he examines how rural-to-urban migration shapes risk factors of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in China, Indonesia and Malawi.
Weilong has experience in working with various international organizations and research institutes. He initiated a project with United Nations Population Division to evaluate the influence of international migration on population structures of twenty member states in the next five decades. He worked for United Nations Division for Social Policy and Development on a program about population aging in sub-Saharan Africa. He also participated in a national project about the long-term care system for Chinese older adults conducted by the State Council of China. In 2019, he joined in a two-month fieldwork in Malawi to collect data for Malawi Longitudinal Studies of Families and Health (MLSFH) conducted by Penn in collaboration with the University of Malawi and Invest in Knowledge (IKI).
Weilong holds a M.A. in Statistics from the Wharton School and a M.S. in Social Policy from the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his B.A. in English Language and Literature from the School of Foreign Studies, University of International Relations.