CSDE-eNews Bulletin

April 15, 2008

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CAMPUS SEMINARS & EVENTS OF INTEREST: Jessie and John Danz Lecture -- Richard Lewontin; Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences Seminar -- Charles F. Manski; IGERT Program in Evolutionary Modeling (IPEM) -- Fraser Neiman; WCPC Seminar Series on Poverty and Public Policy -- Diana Pierce
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES: Global Security and Sustainability -- MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. Program
TRAINING & EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES: Associate Service Fellowship in Demography/Epidemiology -- National Center for Health Statistics
OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST: NIH Public Access Law now in effect; Population Reference Bureau has added new content to its website; PBS Frontline on health care

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CAMPUS SEMINARS & EVENTS OF INTEREST

Jessie and John Danz Lecture -- Richard Lewontin

The Graduate School and the Department of Medical History and Ethics is pleased to sponsor the Jessie & John Danz Lecture

Richard Lewontin, PhD, Alexander Agassiz Research Professor Emeritus of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University
"Organism and Environment: The Organism as Subject and Object of Evolution"

Tuesday, April 15
6:30 PM
Kane Hall, Room 130

Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences Seminar -- Charles F. Manski

Charles F. Manski, Department of Economics and Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University
"Adaptive Partial Innovation: Coping With Ambiguity Through Diversification"

Wednesday, April 16
12:30 - 1:20 PM
Denny 401

IGERT Program in Evolutionary Modeling (IPEM) -- Fraser Neiman

Fraser Neiman, Monticello, Archaeology, University of Virginia, Anthropology
"Early-modern commodities as costly signals: Clay tobacco pipes in the 17th-century British Atlantic"

Thursday, April 17
3:30 - 5:00 PM
Denny 401

WCPC Seminar Series on Poverty and Public Policy -- Diana Pierce

Diana Pierce, Senior Lecturer and Director, Center for Women’s Welfare, School of Social Work
"What a Difference a Measure Makes: New Perspectives on Washington State Poverty and New Applications in Anti-Poverty Programs"

Monday, April 21
3:00 - 4:30 PM
Parrington Hall Commons

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Global Security and Sustainability -- MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. Program

The foundation's initiative on Global Migration and Human Mobility supports a small number of institutions and projects, with the aim of advancing the following three main objectives:

To develop improved understandings of global migration through support of policy-relevant empirical research and improved sources of data on migrant flows

To encourage better governance of migration at global, regional, and national levels

To stimulate new thinking on broader issues of global human mobility

The foundation will be providing a limited number of grants in the following areas:

Governance of global migration

Migration and development

Re-conceptualizing global human mobility

The foundation will seek to contribute to an improvement in the norms and institutions for governance of international migration at the global, regional, and national levels. Funding will concentrate on four sub-themes, principles, norms, and standards; institutions; data; and national policy. Grantmaking in this area will be aimed at raising the profile of global migration issues on national and international agendas, helping to develop norms and standards for the effective governance of migration, facilitating the inclusion of civil society voices in policy deliberations at the national and international levels, and disseminating migration research to policymakers at various levels of government.

Under the broad rubric of migration and development, the foundation will concentrate primarily on three main channels where the global movement of people affects the economies of sending countries and receiving countries. These channels include:

worker remittances,

labor mobility and concomitant brain drain (and brain gain), and

diaspora networks.

In addition to examining migration from an international perspective, synergies are sought in the focus countries of Nigeria, Mexico, Russia, and India.

The foundation will also support a limited number of projects aimed at re-examining current ways of thinking about global human mobility. This includes work that re-evaluates the distinction between migration and other forms of population movement, and that offers new ways of conceptualizing the social, cultural, economic, political, and security dimensions of global human mobility.

Grants are awarded for research and policy studies, dissemination, and related activities in the strategy areas listed above. The foundation is particularly interested in supporting projects that reflect diverse national, institutional, professional, and cultural perspectives on global migration.

With few exceptions, as noted elsewhere, there are no fixed deadlines.

For more details, click here.

TRAINING & EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Associate Service Fellowship in Demography/Epidemiology -- National Center for Health Statistics

Position and Organization: The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), located in Hyattsville, Maryland, is seeking an Associate Service Fellow to work with the National Survey of Family Growth Team. NCHS is the nation’s principal health statistics agency. One of the eight Centers and Institutes that comprise the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NCHS’s mission is to compile accurate, relevant, and timely statistical information to guide actions and policies that improve the health of the nation. Within NCHS, the Division of Vital Statistics (DVS) coordinates the National Vital Statistics System and conducts the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). Within DVS, the Reproductive Statistics Branch coordinates the National Birth statistics system and conducts the NSFG. For more information about NCHS, see http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about.htm. Information about the National Survey of Family Growth is available at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg.htm.

Fellowship Overview: The Associate Service Fellow, working closely with the NSFG Team, will contribute to all aspects of conducting the survey and disseminating the survey data. The NSFG Team is responsible for collecting, processing, and disseminating data on a variety of topics related to birth and pregnancy rates; contraception and fertility; marriage, divorce, and cohabitation; sexual activity; and HIV risk behaviors. Under the guidance of other members of the NSFG team, the Associate Service Fellow will develop and formulate questionnaire specifications and review training materials; plan and conduct methodological and evaluation studies related to data collection; provide technical consultation and advice to users of the data; and prepare reports of survey activities and results for NCHS reports and scientific journals. These reports include discussion of statistical methods.

Qualifications: This fellowship is open to all citizens of the United States or legal permanent residents with a work authorization. Applicants are responsible for obtaining the necessary work authorization. Applicants must have successfully completed a master’s degree or higher in demography, survey methodology, epidemiology, public health, or a related field (e.g. sociology, medicine, biological or health sciences, etc). Experience and/or applied coursework in (a) sampling, (b) collecting, computing, and analyzing statistical data, and (c) applying statistical techniques such as simple and multiple correlation, regression modeling, analysis of variance, and significance testing is highly desirable. Skill in using SAS, STATA, SPSS, SUDAAN, or other statistical software for complex survey data is also expected. Strong speaking, writing, and interpersonal skills are also highly desirable.

Terms of Appointment: The Associate Service Fellow will be offered an initial 13 month appointment, which may be extended up to 10 years by mutual agreement. A starting date will be determined by mutual agreement. An initial salary of $48,108 - $90,698 will be offered based on education and experience. Salary increases will be commensurate with performance. Associate Service Fellows are eligible for sick leave, annual leave, thrift savings (401(k) equivalent), and health and life insurance. A flexible work schedule is also available. Free parking is available on-site or a transportation subsidy can be obtained for using the metro area subway station, which is nearby.

Application Process: Applications will be accepted through April 30, 2008. Interested applicants should submit their curriculum vitae, official transcripts of all graduate and undergraduate credits, and three reference letters to Stephanie Ventura, Chief, Reproductive Statistics Branch at the mailing address below. Inquiries or questions regarding this fellowship can be directed to Mrs. Ventura at sventura@cdc.gov.

Mailing address:
Mrs. Stephanie Ventura, Chief
Reproductive Statistics Branch
Division of Vital Statistics
National Center for Health Statistics
3311 Toledo Road, Room 7418
Hyattsville, Maryland 20782

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

NIH Public Access Law now in effect

As of April 7, 2008, a new federal law authorizes the National Institutes of Health to require that all journal publications be submitted to the NIH

PubMed Central Website. A summary description of the requirement of this new law is now available on OSP's web site:
http://www.washington.edu/research/osp/nihPubLaw.html

In brief, NIH is now requiring that the author's final version of any peer-reviewed journal article resulting from NIH-funded activities must be submitted to the PubMed Central repository, where it will be made available to the public within 12 months after the journal article is published. This new policy has several compliance issues that NIH-funded investigators need to address.

Copyright: Authors must ensure that agreements with publishers permit the submission of the author's manuscript to NIH. OSP has provided a sample letter that may be used by researchers when negotiating contracts with journals: http://www.washington.edu/research/osp/forms/nihPubmedTemplate.doc

Many of the journals will submit journal articles to PubMed Central automatically, but for those that do not, this letter may be useful.

Submission of manuscripts: To facilitate submission of articles to PubMed Central, NIH has developed its NIH Manuscript Submission System (NIHMS); submission can be done by the author or a third party in their lab or department. Peer-reviewed manuscripts accepted for publication after April 7, 2008, authors must submit the final version of the manuscript, and accompanying files, to NIHMS. A tutorial on the NIHMS System is available at: http://www.nihms.nih.gov/web-help/index.html

Citing PubMed Central ID numbers_: When an author's manuscript is submitted to NIH, s/he will receive a NIHMS ID number, and once it is available in PubMed Central, it will be assigned a PMC ID number.

Effective May 25, 2008, Principal Investigators will need to cite the PMC ID or NIHMS ID numbers for any articles cited in progress reports, new applications, and renewals. These are only needed for articles accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008, but PMC ID numbers for articles already in PubMed Central may be included as well.

If you have questions regarding this new law, please consult the NIH PubMed Central FAQ (also referenced on the OSP web site): http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/

Population Reference Bureau has added new content to its website

MIDDLE EAST

Fertility Declining in the Middle East and North Africa
The Middle East and North Africa includes some of the world’s fastest-growing countries. But growth in these mainly Arab countries has been slowed by a recent revolution in marriage and childbearing. MENA’s total fertility rate declined from about 7 children per woman in 1960 to about 3 children per woman in 2006. The decline started first in Lebanon. This article is excerpted from the Population Bulletin “Challenges and Opportunities—The Population of the Middle East and North Africa,” published in June 2007. The Bulletin was written by Farzaneh Roudi-Fahimi, director of PRB’s Middle East and North Africa program; and Mary Mederios Kent, senior demographic editor at PRB.

http://www.prb.org/Articles/2008/menafertilitydecline.aspx

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
Ensuring a Wide Range of Family Planning Choices
The use of contraception varies widely around the world, both in terms of total use and the types of methods used. In many countries, women and couples rely largely on one or two contraceptive methods because of government policies, the way that national family planning programs have evolved, and cultural or social preferences. Understanding why people prefer some contraceptive methods over others can be useful for strengthening family planning programs. This policy brief accompanies the new PRB data sheet Family Planning Worldwide 2008. The brief was written by Lori Ashford, technical director for policy information at PRB.

http://www.prb.org/Publications/PolicyBriefs/ensuringfamilyplanning.aspx

Family Planning in Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Mali
In West Africa, approximately 13 percent of married women use some form of family planning. Hormonal contraceptives, including the pill and injections, are the most commonly used methods. Traditional family planning methods, including periodic abstinence and withdrawal, are in second place. Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Mali illustrate the richness that can be found when regional numbers are teased apart. This article is the second of two articles on family planning in West Africa. Both articles were written by Jay Gribble, director of PRB’s BRIDGE project.

http://www.prb.org/Articles/2008/westafricafamilyplanning2.aspx

POPULATION BASICS

Best Practices in Research: Translation and Dissemination
At a Population Reference Bureau policy seminar on March 19, 2008, sponsored in part by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, four experts shared their experiences and advice on translating and disseminating technical information. Panelists were: Christine Bachrach, chief, Demographic and Behavioral Science Branch, Center for Population Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Ellen Carnevale, vice president of communications and marketing, Population Reference Bureau; John Haaga, deputy director, Behavioral and Social Research Program, National Institute on Aging; and Wendy Manning, director, Center for Family and Demographic Research, Bowling Green State University.
v Also view a webcast of the seminar.

http://www.prb.org/Journalists/Webcasts/2008/dissemination.aspx

AGING

Global Aging and the Demographic Divide
In the latter half of the last century, the world's developed nations completed a long process of demographic transition: a shift from a period of high mortality, short lives, and large families to one with a longer life expectancy and far fewer children. This transformation took many centuries in Europe and North America. In developing countries, this demographic transition is certainly underway, though these countries vary widely at their places along the spectrum. This article was written by Carl Haub, a senior demographer and Conrad Taeuber Chair of Population Information at the Population Reference Bureau. It was originally printed in the Public Policy & Aging Report 17, no. 4 (2007).

http://www.prb.org/Articles/2008/globalaging.aspx

PBS Frontline on health care

"Sick Around the World"
Compares healthcare in the U.S. to other developed nations. See the link for more info:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/

Tuesday, April
9:00 PM
KCTS, Channel 9