Dr. Leyla Karimli’s interdisciplinary applied research critically investigates the impact of poverty reduction interventions on the psychosocial well-being of vulnerable children and families in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia. Her work underscores the often-overlooked role of local social structures and illuminates the multidimensional nature of poverty. Through rigorous multilevel, longitudinal experimental and quasi-experimental studies, Dr. Karimli examines how economic interventions—such as ultra-poor graduation programs, asset-building initiatives, and livelihood supports—can lead to improved outcomes for women, children, and adolescents.

A central theme in her research is that poverty is not solely a matter of income, but a complex condition shaped by family dynamics, social norms, and psychosocial vulnerability. Her work reveals that sustainable improvements in child and family well-being require addressing not only economic hardship but also the relational, educational, and health-related dimensions of deprivation. Her integrated, multi-dimensional approach to poverty alleviation offers critical insights for the design of more effective programs and policies aimed at improving child and family wellbeing in resource-constrained settings.

Dr. Karimli received her PhD from Columbia University’s School of Social Work with a concentration in social policy and social welfare. She completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration and New York University’s Silver School of Social Work’s McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research. Prior to her academic career, Dr. Karimli actively contributed to community-based empowerment and poverty reduction initiatives by working within development agencies in the former Soviet Union and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Karimli is a faculty affiliate at Luskin’s Global Public Affairs, the Global Lab for Research in Action, the International Center on Child Health and Asset Development (ICHAD), and UCLA’s California Center for Population Research (CCPR).

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For full list of publications please visit her page at ResearchGate or Google Scholar

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Karimli, L., Ismayilova, L., & Wells, C.R. (2025) Pathways from poverty to child mental health in Burkina Faso: Longitudinal mediation analyses in a cluster-randomized clinical trial. Journal of Adolescent Health, 76 (3), 415-428

Karimli L., Nabayinda, J., Nartey, P.B., & Ssewamala F.M. (2024) Poverty reduction and family functioning: Results from an experimental study in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 33, 3104-3118 

Karimli L., Nabunya, P., Ssewamala, F.M., & Dvalishvili, D. (2024) Combining asset accumulation and multi-family group intervention to improve mental health for adolescent girls: A cluster-randomized trial in Uganda. Journal of Adolescent Health, 74(1), 78-88

Karimli, L., Ssewamala, F. M., & Neilands, T.B. (2023) The impact of poverty-reduction intervention on child mental health mediated by family relations: Findings from a cluster-randomized trial in Uganda. Social Science & Medicine, 332, 116102

Karimli, L., Lecoutere, E., Wells, C. R. & Ismayilova, L. (2021) More assets, more decision-making power? Mediation model in a cluster-randomized controlled trial evaluating the effect of the graduation program on women’s empowerment in Burkina Faso. World Development, 137, 105159

Karimli, L., Bose, B., & Kagotho, N. (2020) Integrated graduation program and its effect on women and household economic well-being: Findings from a randomized controlled trial in Burkina Faso. Journal of Development Studies, 56(7), 1277-1294

Ismayilova, L. & Karimli, L. (2020) Harsh parenting and violence against children: a trial with ultra-poor families in Francophone West Africa. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 49(1), 18-35

Karimli, L., Shephard, D.D., McKay M. M., Batista, T., & Allmang, S. (2020) Effect of non-formal experiential education on personal agency of adolescent girls in Tajikistan: findings from a randomized experimental study. Global Social Welfare. 7(2), 141-154

Salecker, L.M., Ahmadov, A., & Karimli, L. (2020) Contrasting monetary and multidimensional poverty measures in a low-income Sub-Saharan African country. Social Indicators Research, 151(2), 547-574

Karimli, L., Ssewamala, F. M.., Neilands, T.B., Wells, C. R., & Bermudez, L. (2019) Poverty, economic strengthening, and mental health among AIDS orphaned children in Uganda: mediation model in a randomized clinical trial. Social Science & Medicine, 228, 17-24

Karimli L., Rost L., Ismayilova L. (2018). Integrating economic strengthening and family coaching to reduce work-related health hazards among children of poor households: Burkina Faso. Journal of Adolescent Health, Special Issue, Global Perspectives on Economic Strengthening, 62(1):S6–S14.

Karimli, L., Samman, E., Rost, L., & Kidder, T. (2016) Factors and Norms Influencing Unpaid Care Work: Household survey evidence from five rural communities in Colombia, Ethiopia, The Philippines, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Oxford, UK: Oxfam, Women’s Economic Empowerment and Care.