Luca Moreno Louzada DEDP ’24

Originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Louzada completed his master’s in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy (DEDP) in August 2024.

What attracted you to MIT?

MIT is one of the world’s leading institutions for economic research, and it attracts people, faculty and students alike, who are both sharp and genuinely curious. The DEDP program stood out because of its dynamic, interdisciplinary approach to solving real-world policy problems using serious data and methods. It brings together people from very different backgrounds who all care about doing rigorous work that matters.

Can you explain your research focus?

My research interests sit at the intersection of development, political economy, and environmental economics. During my time at MIT, I worked on a project looking at the potential of AI to improve litigation in India’s overburdened judiciary.  I’ve also worked on projects on the effects of gold mining in the Amazon on health outcomes, on how people consume and interpret political information, and on the structure of recycling markets.

Why does your research matter to society?

Applied economics, especially in development, is about trying to understand the forces that drive big social outcomes and figuring out where interventions can actually make a difference. It’s a field that often sits at the edge of other disciplines—public health, political science, environmental science—and that’s part of what makes it powerful. Good research in this space can inform better policy but also challenge the way we frame problems in the first place.

How did attending MIT influence your research?

MIT pushed me to think more clearly and more ambitiously. The program gave me the technical foundation to take on complex problems and the flexibility to pursue the ones that I cared about most. The environment is intense and full of incredibly smart people who take ideas seriously and who are generous with their time and feedback.

What’s next after MIT?

I’m currently at Stanford working as a predoctoral fellow with Matthew Gentzkow, focusing on projects related to the mental health impacts of social media and political polarization. After that, I plan to start a PhD in economics and eventually work in spaces that bridge academic research and real-world policy.