Principal Investigator
William Cox
Credentials: Ph.D. (he/him/his)
Position title: Principal Investigator
Email: william.cox@wisc.edu
Dr. William Taylor Laimaka Cox is a scientist-practitioner in the realm of social justice. His work all serves the ultimate goal of understanding and reducing the injustice, human suffering, and disparities that arise from stereotyping and prejudice.
A key theme throughout his scientific research is understanding fundamental processes at play in stereotyping and bias, especially how neural, cognitive, and cultural processes lead to the perpetuation of stereotypes and biases. His work also serves as a bridge between basic, fundamental science and translational, applied intervention work: he leverages advances in basic knowledge about stereotype perpetuation to develop, test, and refine evidence-based interventions, most especially the bias habit-breaking training, which has been shown to be highly effective at creating lasting, meaningful changes related to bias and diversity.
Dr. Cox is the Founder/CEO of Inequity Agents of Change, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to widespread dissemination of evidence-based methods to create lasting, meaningful change. They provide training and resources to individuals and organizations around the world, harnessing the science of cognitive-behavioral change to empower people as agents of change to reduce bias, create inclusion, and promote equity.
Dr. Cox received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His contributions to basic and translational research on stereotyping and bias reduction were recently recognized by National Institute of General Medical Sciences at NIH in the form of a Maximizing Investigator’s Research Award. He and his work have been featured several times on NPR and WPR, and has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Vanity Fair, and other major outlets.
Our wonderful Research Assistants
Former Lab Members
Xizhou Xie
Credentials: (she/her/hers)
Position title: Lab Manager/Data Analyst
Email: xizhou.xie@wisc.edu
Address:
Xizhou received her Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She joined the lab full time in 2017 and manages the research portfolio. Her research interests include how presentation of women in STEM impact interest or challenges in joining the field.
Curtis Ryals
Credentials: MA (he/him/his)
Position title: Lab Manager
Email: cdryals@wisc.edu
Curtis received his Master’s Degree in Bioethics from the Medical College of Wisconsin and has over ten years of experience in clinical research regulatory and policy work. His previous research includes work in behavioral neuroscience, cognitive psychology, philosophy, and bioethics. His research interests include how language impacts cognition in the context of connectionist models and reward-based learning, and the ethical issues arising from stereotypes and biases.
Alessandra Sacino
Credentials: Ph.D. Candidate
Position title: Visiting Grad Student
Alessandra was a visiting graduate student pursuing her Ph.D. from the University of Genoa in Genoa, Italy. Her research interests included gender stereotypes and sexualization in television advertisements.