A CIRANO Researcher and Fellow since 2014, Simona Bignami-Van Assche is Associate Professor in the Department of Demography at the Université de Montréal. She is also currently the Director of the Research Group on Aboriginal Demography and co-investigator of the Niakhar Project on Social Networks and Health.

Holding a Ph.D. in Demography from the University of Pennsylvania, her research focuses on population health indicators, indigenous demography, demography in developing countries, HIV/AIDS, family dynamics, social and economic determinants of health, and the collection and analysis of longitudinal survey data.