Julio Salas is a research assistant in the Tax and Income Supports​ Division at the Urban Institute. His research focuses on the social safety net, immigration, and food insecurity. Before joining Urban, Salas was a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute public policy fellow and a legislative health fellow in the US House of Representatives, where he led a health portfolio. He was also a research assistant at Cornell University, where he worked on projects related to mindsets and academic achievement, as well as food insecurity. Salas received an associate’s degree in health sciences from Queensborough Community College and received a bachelor’s degree in human development from Cornell University.