Drug Policy, Illicit Markets
& Organized Crime
I am a Ph.D. candidate in Policy Analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School and an Assistant Policy Researcher at the RAND Corporation. I also hold a fellowship at the Niskanen Center. My research focuses on illegal drug markets, organized crime, and the policies designed to address them, with particular attention to Mexico, California, and Latin America.
My dissertation examines the structure and economics of illegal cannabis markets through three empirical essays. More broadly, I combine field methods, statistics, and mixed-methods approaches to produce rigorous, policy-relevant evidence on illicit economies, violence, drug policy reform and security policies. Before joining RAND, I was the executive director at the Drug Policy Program at CIDE in Mexico, where I conducted research and co-coordinated a graduate diploma on drug policy, health, and human rights.
I also work as an independent monitoring and evaluation consultant for international development programs across the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico, specializing in cost-benefit analysis, results frameworks, and mixed-methods evaluation design.