Sam Clark

Ph.D. 2001, University of Pennsylvania. African demography, demographic methods, mathematical modeling of population processes.

Department: Sociology
Position: Assistant Professor
Email: click here
Phone: (206) 616-3375
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Research Summary:

Research interests include African Demography, demographic methods, mathematical modeling of population processes with specific focus on individual-level models and in-vivo models of disease progression, modeling and studying processes involving temporal and spatial components, the theory and practice of temporal databases - especially as they relate to population data, and topics at the interface of Biology, Ecology, and Demography.

Recent research topics include the design and implementation of a two-sex, stochastic microsimulation model of an African population with HIV, the formulation of temporal relational database designs for demographic and health research, the creation of a component model of mortality for Africa, the identification of general mortality patterns for Africa based on new empirical data, and the refinement of in-vivo models of HIV disease progression to include multiple strains of HIV, suitable to model the rise and fall of drug resistant strains of HIV following antiretroviral treatment.

Recent professional activities include a substantial contribution of time to the development of the INDEPTH Network of demographic and health surveillance sites in the developing world: (http://www.indepth-network.org), substantial contributions to the teaching and student supervision at the master's level in the School of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and analytical and information technology support for the Agincourt demographic surveillance system field site attached to the School of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Saloojee, H.; Kahn, K.; Clark, S. J.; Tollman, S. M.; Khosa, P., (Forthcoming), Cause of Death Patterns in the Agincourt DSS South Africa, Population and Health in Developing Countries, Network, I., 2, Ashgate Publishing Ltd., Aldershot, England.

Cassels, S.; Clark, S. J.; Morris, M., (2008), Mathematical Models for HIV Transmission Dynamics: Tools for Social and Behavioral Science Research, Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, 47: Suppl. 1, S34-S39.

Tollman, S. M.; Kahn, K.; Sartorius, B. K.; Collinson, M. A.; Clark, S. J.; Garenne, M. L., (2008), Implications of mortality transition for primary health care in rural South Africa: a population-based surveillance study, The Lancet, 372: 9642, 893-901.

Alkema, L.; Raftery, A. E.; Clark, S. J., (2007), Probabilistic Projections of HIV Prevalence Using Bayesian Melding, The Annals of Applied Statistics, 1: 1, 229-248.

Clark, S. J., (2007), An Introduction to the General Temporal Data Model and the Structured Population Event History Register (SPEHR). , Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 69: Suppl. 69, 21-25.

Clark, S. J.; Collinson, M.; Kahn, K.; Tollman, S.; Drullinger, K., (2007), Returning Home to Die: Urban to Rural Migration and Mortality in Rural South Africa, Scandanavian Journal of Public Health, 35: Suppl. 69, 35-44.

Kahn, K.; Tollman, S.; Collinson, M. A.; Clark, S. J.; Twine, R.; Clark, B. D.; Shabangu, M.; Gomez, F. X.; Olive, O. M.; Garenne, M., (2007), Research into health, population, and social transitions in rural South Africa: Data and methods of the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System, Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 35: Suppl. 69, 8-20.

Clark, S. J., (2006), A General Temporal Data Model and the Structured Population Event History Register, Demographic Research, 15: 7, 181-252.

Clark, S. J., (2006), Demographic Impacts of the HIV Epidemic and Consequences of Population-wide Treatment of HIV for the Elderly: Results from Microsimulation, Aging in Africa: Recommendations for Furthering Research, Panel on Policy Research and Data Needs to Meet the Challenge of Aging in Africa, Cohen, B.; Menken, J., National Academy Press, Washington, D.C..

Collinson, M. A.; Tollman, S. M.; Kahn, K.; Clark, S. J.; Garenne, M., (2006), Highly Prevalent Circular Migration: Households, Mobility and Economic Status in Rural South Africa, African Migration in Comparative Perspective, Tienda, M.; Tollman, S. M.; Preston-Whyte, E.; Findlay, S. E., University of the Witwatersrand Press, Johannesburg.

Sankoh, O. A.; Ngom, P.; Clark, S. J.; de Savigny, D.; Binka, F., (2006), Levels and Patterns of Mortality at INDEPTH Demographic Surveillance Sites, Disease and Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa, Feachem, R.; Jamison, D.; Makgoba, W. M.; Rogo, K.; Hofman, K.; Bos, E., Oxford University Press, for the World Bank, Oxford.

Benzler, J.; Clark, S. J., (2005), Towards a Unified Timestamp with Explicit Precision, Demographic Research, 12: 6, 107-140.

Kahn, K.; Collinson, M. A.; Hargreaves, J.; Clark, S. J.; Tollman, S. M., (2005), Socio-economic Status and Child Mortality in Rural sub-District of South Africa, Measuring Health Equity in Small Areas. Findings from Demographic Surveillance Systems, INDEPTH Network, Ashgate Publishing Ltd., Aldershot, England.

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• Assessing Uncertainty in Population Projection Models via Bayesian Melding
• Predicting Impacts of Infectious Disease on Structure and Dynamics of Populations
• Design and Implementation of MIPopLab DSS Data Management System
• Partnership for Social Science AIDS Research in South Africa's Era of ART Rollout
• Health, Population and Social Transitions in Rural South Africa: Elucidating Pathways and Testing Interventions

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