We look forward to welcoming Dr. Dan Goldhaber from the University of Washinton on Friday, April 3, in Parrington Hall 360 and on Zoom. This seminar is co-sponsored by the Population Health Initiative. To join by zoom, register HERE.

Professional references are widely used in hiring decisions, yet their effectiveness remains largely understudied. We analyze structured ratings collected from the professional references of teacher applicants and conduct an experiment to see whether the ratings influence hiring managers’ assessments of applicants and hiring decisions. We find little evidence that providing reference ratings to hiring managers influences their evaluations of candidates or hiring choices in productive ways. Importantly, we also find that reference ratings are predictive of future job performance. The result is a paradox: reference ratings offer potentially low-cost, high-value information, but hiring managers do not appear to make productive use of them

The Prevent Cancer Foundation has awarded funds (donated by Awesome Games Done Quick) to CSDE Affiliate Michelle Shin (Child, Family, and Population Health Nursing), to develop a care model to increase cervical cancer screening in federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). This study aims to better understand the barriers to cervical cancer screening from the perspectives of patients and community leaders through process mapping and key informant interviews to develop a culturally responsive care model to increase screening uptake in underserved communities.

CSDE Affiliates Kenneth Sherr (Global Health), Brian P. Flaherty (Psychology), and Bradley Wagenaar (Global Health) published in The Lancet Psychiatry results of a randomized trial that tested the Systems Analysis and Improvement Approach for Mental Health (SAIA-MH) to improve outpatient care for mental, neurological, and substance use disorders in Mozambique in The Lancet Psychiatry. SAIA-MH combines external facilitation, clinical consultation, and provider team meetings with systems-engineering tools in a continuous quality improvement framework. The 3-year study followed patients across 16 government facilities, the majority of whom were diagnosed with epilepsy. Compared to controls, patients at SAIA-MH facilities showed 46 percentage points higher rates of functional improvement, 18 percentage points higher medication adherence, and 18 percentage points higher appointment attendance.

Join CSDE for an Information Session on the Data Science and Demography Training (DSDT) program this Wednesday, April 1, 2026 12:30-1:30 PM, either in-person in Raitt 221 or via this Zoom link: https://washington.zoom.us/j/96804967473. (Passcode: 244881) CSDE has 3 openings for the DSDT program, a 12-month fellowship for graduate students interested in pursuing a population research career or population health research career that applies advanced data science analytics. More information is available here.  The fellowship program will begin September 16, 2026, and is available to U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents.  Applications are due Friday, April 24, 2026, by 5:00 PM PT.

Join the IUSSP online (Zoom), on Wednesday, April 1, 11:00–12:30 Universal Time for a high-level virtual debate tackling one of the most consequential policy questions of the 21st century: Should nations with more deaths than births implement or increase incentives for childbearing and subsidies for child-rearing? Should nations with more deaths than births implement or increase incentives for childbearing and subsidies for child-rearing?

With opening insights on the question from Tomas Sobotka of the Vienna Institute of Demography, we bring together four world experts to debate:

• YES Team: Anna Rotkirch (Finland) & Reiko Hayashi (Japan)
• NO Team: Youngtae Cho (South Korea) & Vegard Skirbekk (Norway)

The Population Council recently announced the March 2026 issue of Studies in Family Planning, a leading peer-reviewed journal publishing public health, social science, and biomedical research from around the world. This issue includes a wide range of articles covering diverse topics from male and female contraception, pregnancy acceptance and ambivalence, and more. Read the new issue here.

NICHD has released their funding strategy and guidelines for Fiscal Year 2026. You will find they are generally similar to past years, though there are some nuances: NICHD Funding Strategies: Guidance for Fiscal Year 2026.

The Center for Social Science Computation and Research (CSSCR) offers drop-in office hours for computational and statistical issues in research and coursework. This service is offered Monday - Friday from 8 AM - 6 PM in Savery 119.  We have graduate student staff from the departments of Anthropology, Economics, Education, Geography, Political Science, Social Work, and Sociology.  The center supports R, Stata, Python, ArcGIS, QGIS, Matlab (limited), and Atlas.ti.  The Center’s consultants can assist with data management, data wrangling, exploratory data analysis,  and qualitative analysis. CSSCR also specializes in identifying and procuring data sets that can be used for research or course projects.

IPUMS released multiple data updates, including ACS and PRCS data, NHGIS data, and CPS data.

IPUMS USA

The 2023 5-year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) data for the ACS and PRCS are now available on IPUMS USA. See the IPUMS USA revision history for more details

IPUMS NHGIS

IPUMS NHGIS has released its second version of GIS boundary data for 1970 census blocks. This release adds blocks for 17 metro areas, including Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Houston, Newark, Seattle, Atlanta, San Diego, Buffalo, Miami and Nashville. The total count of metro areas with 1970 block boundary data is now 38, including 21 of the top 25 by 1970 population.

IPUMS CPS

IPUMS CPS has added the February 2026 basic monthly data. Note that the January 2026 basic monthly data were re-released by the Census Bureau last week; the originally released version did not account for new population controls (see our blog post on weighted counts in January CPS to learn more). We are working on updating the affected variables, which include weights as well as some geographic and earnings variables. We will update the IPUMS CPS revision history as soon as the data become available.

The Washington State Department of Housing invites survey responses to inform recommendations for how to structure a new Department of Housing that will serve as the state’s coordinating and problem solving hub for ensuring adequate housing supply and housing stability for all Washingtonians. Your feedback will help inform the Task Force’s final report, due November 15, 2026, which will include recommendations on the mission, structure, programs, and goals of a new Department of Housing.

The Population Studies Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine published a self-study course Introduction to Demographic Methods and Population Analysis for students and professionals. This course contains 28 interactive lectures, grouped into 3 modules. Topics include the very basics of the measurement and analysis of fertility, mortality and migration, but also cover population projections, life table applications, and population models. No prior training in demography or mathematics is required.

Join the Association of Public Data Users (APDU) on April 15 from 11- 12 PM PT for a webinar on “Demystifying Data Privacy in the US.“ APDU has created a set of resources to help policymakers, researchers, advocates, and the public better understand the mechanics of the Privacy Act of 1974 and how the federal government manages and discloses personal information. These materials can help you effectively assert your rights, close harmful loopholes, and hold the government accountable to treating everyone fairly. Join experts Maya Bernstein and Bethanne Barnes in a conversation with Amy O’Hara to mark the launch of these new resources.

The Data Science and AI Accelerator pairs eScience Institute data scientists with researchers from any field of study to work on focused, collaborative projects. Collaborations may center on analysis of an existing dataset to answer a specific research question, an implementation of software for processing or analyzing data, data visualization tools, or tools for data interpretation. This program is centered around building capacity — helping researchers to learn the skills and tools they need to do their projects rather than providing people to write code for them. Projects for Summer 2026 must be received by April 26 at 11:59 PM. PT.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation invites applications for the following Grand Challenges grant opportunities. Applications for all RFPs are due no later than April 28, 2026, at 11:30 AM PT. The Foundation will host a dedicated webinar on each RFP to provide more details and answer your questions.

• Innovations in Cost-Disruptive Tools for Diagnosis and Screening
• Novel Interventions Targeting Placental and Gut Inflammation to Improve Fetal Growth
• Addressing Physiological Barriers to Micronutrient Absorption from Fortified Foods
• Cost-Disrupting Innovations to Reduce the Cost of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food
• Breakthrough Innovations to Significantly Reduce the Cost of Severe Acute Malnutrition Treatment
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Accelerate Charitable Giving

Please join the East Asia Center for a special public panel, “From Malthus to Musk: Searching for Population Equilibrium in East Asia“, that will feature CSDE Director Sara Curran and three other scholars on April 30 from 3:30 – 5 PM, in HUB 337, University of Washington.

From Malthus’s warnings of overpopulation to Musk’s urge to boost fertility, the drastic turn of humanity’s relationship with population growth is one of the defining features of East Asian societies.competition and proactive government intervention—both operating within the context of deep-seated cultural traditions—have defined the region's current demographic challenges. We conclude, however, that policy interventions alone will likely prove insufficient without addressing the fundamental shifts in social values and the complex interplay of economic, cultural, and political factors driving this historic demographic transformation.

Heat is one of the most frequently examined environmental influences on population health, and a wide variety of data sources exist to measure exposure. This pre-PAA workshop, sponsored by the Center on Aging, Health, and Environment (CACHE), provides an overview of heat measures and examples of two, including hands-on experience with code available via the CACHE website. Participants will generate temperature exposure measures from publicly available data, as well as wet bulb temperatures. The Universal Thermal Climate Index data will also be demonstrated and linked to population data. Learn more and register here. This workshop will take place in St. Louis, Missouri on May 6, 1-5:30 PM CT . Please note you must be registered for PAA in order to attend.

IPUMS will be exhibiting at the PAA 2026 Annual Meeting. Stop by their booth to talk with IPUMS research staff. Share any powered by IPUMS work on the PAA program so we can highlight your session and bring some specialty IPUMS swag for you. IPUMS also invites you to connect at these PAA events:

• Advances and Resources in Linking Full Count Census Data from IPUMS: Wednesday, May 6; 9:00am-2:00pm | America’s Center Room 103
• Harmonizing Geographic U.S. Census Data Across Time: Resources from IPUMS NHGIS: Thursday, May 7; 6:30-7:30pm | Marriott St. Louis Grand - Room L1
• The Future of DHS: Supplemental and Alternative Data Sources: Friday, May 8; 6:00-7:30pm | Marriott St. Louis Grand - Room L6

Studies in Family Planning is calling for submission for a special issue on “Pandemic and Epidemic Impacts on Reproduction, Sexual and Reproductive Health, and Family Dynamics: Longer-Term Consequences and Cross-Crisis Perspectives,” due September 15. The special issue aims to broaden the field by situating COVID-19 within a broader landscape of pandemics and epidemics with demonstrable implications for reproduction, family life, and SRHR. In addition to longer-term analyses of the COVID-19 pandemic, we invite research that explicitly engages with other health crises—such as the Zika epidemic or the mpox (monkeypox) outbreak—that have had well-documented sexual and reproductive health consequences. Please submit to wiley.atyponrex.com/journal/SIFP.