Hadi Kahalzadeh is a junior research fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University. He holds a Ph.D. in Social Policy from Brandeis University, an M.A. in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University, an M.A. in Energy Economics from Islamic Azad University, and a B.A. in Economics from Allameh Tabataba’i University in Tehran. Before his academic career, Kahalzadeh served as an economist at Iran’s Social Security Organization for eight years, focusing on political, economic, and social policies. He was also actively involved in pro-democracy political and civil society organizations in Iran from 1999 to 2011. Kahalzadeh’s research centers on Iran’s political economy and social welfare, with a particular emphasis on the impact of sanctions. His work has been featured in prominent publications such as Foreign Affairs, The Guardian, and Middle East Eye. His recent publications include analyses of the limitations of economic sanctions and their effects on Iran’s welfare system as well as studies on the intersection of economic factors and gender dynamics in Iran. Through his work, Kahalzadeh advocates for evidence-based policy approaches that consider the socioeconomic realities of Iranian society.