Ph.D. student Leah Kitashima won Clemson’s Three Minute Thesis Competition on April 1 for her presentation on her dissertation, “The Effects of ADHD Treatment on Children’s Educational and Criminal Outcomes”. Leah was one of three finalists in the competition among our PhD student cohort, along with Tim Bacon and Mahjuja Taznin. In addition to this exceedingly brief format, Leah has presented her work at a the National Bureau of Economic Research Summer Institute and the Southern Economic Association’s annual conference.
Using detailed data on ADHD treatments and educational outcomes, Leah finds that hyperactive children do not realize the hoped-for benefits from treatment. Indeed, unintended side-effects may be responsible for lowering educational attainment for these children. For more coverage of her research, see this article from last May on the Clemson Newstand, and a newspaper story on the three minute thesis competition at the Anderson Independent.
Leah’s work has been supported by a Fellowship from the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Fellowship funded by Clemson alumni in honor of Professor Emeritus Michael Maloney. In 2014-15 Leah was the recipient of the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant for the College of Business and Behavioral Science.
