Jihye Lee, having earned her MSW and BA in Social Work at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, South Korea, was inspired to pursue a Ph.D. in Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis due to her experiences as a researcher and social worker. She witnessed the effects of insufficient childhood care leading to poverty and social exclusion in young adulthood. Her research focuses on child welfare policies in challenging socioeconomic contexts characterized by poverty, inequality, and underemployment, with a specific emphasis on immigrant populations. Jihye’s primary goal is to investigate the root causes of poverty and inequality related to child maltreatment and develop effective interventions to break this harmful cycle.