CSDE Biodemography Lab Director and Research Scientist Tiffany Pan and CSDE Research Scientist Jessica Godwin contributed to the study design of an NIDDK R01 awarded to PI  Kendra Kamp (Nursing) studying quality of life, symptoms, immune markers, and bowel wall thickness to determine the impact of estrogen and menstrual cycle phase among those with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), healthy controls, and disorders of gut-brain interaction. 

In preparation for the grant proposal, Pan conducted a pilot study in 2024 testing the feasibility of a multiplex cytokine assay for this study population which informed the preliminary data section of the R01. Godwin provided statistical methods selection and power analyses to the first grant submission in early 2025. Pan and Godwin both supported Kamp’s successful resubmission. 

Study preparations and subject recruitment for the recently awarded study have commenced! Pan and the CSDE Biodemography Lab will be responsible for assaying and processing collected biomarker data. Godwin will carry out statistical analyses to test hypotheses about the relationship between IBD, the menstrual cycle, and outcomes assayed in the lab as well as other outcomes like sleep quality. 

To arrange a consulting appointment with Tiffany Pan, Jessica Godwin, or any of CSDE’s scientific support staff, please use the CSDE Science Core Consultation Request form.

CSDE Affiliate Dr. Kemi Doll (Obstetrics & Gynecology) recently published a new book titled, “A Terrible Strength: The Hidden Crisis of the Black Womb & Your Survival Guide to Healing.” In this book, Dr. Doll discusses the silence in medicine that has cost Black women their health, their dignity, and their lives. She brings together her own personal stories, her groundbreaking research, cultural insights, and reflections and strategies in order to break the silence and expose the hidden crisis of the Black womb. Dr. Doll and her book were also featured in a New York Times article titled, “Ladies, We’re Entering Our Crone Era. It’s About Time.” which discussed American healthcare’s treatment of menopause and women’s health care system as a whole. To learn more about and purchase Dr. Doll’s new book, visit this link.

CSDE Affiliate Spencer Wood (eScience) was recently interviewed by KUNC, a Colorado NPR news station, in an article titled, “Federal agencies study new methods for monitoring recreation on public lands.” Last year, Congress passed the EXPLORE Act, a package of measures to boost outdoor recreation access as a record number of people participate in outdoor activities. In response to the EXPLORE Act, U.S. federal agencies have announced dozens of pilot projects to improve decision-making regarding recreation on public lands and waters. The UW Outdoor R&D Lab, directed by Dr. Wood is leading many of these pilot projects. In the KUNC article, Dr. Wood discusses some of his studies and provides insights on these projects. To learn more about these pilot projects and Dr. Wood’s research visit this link. 

CSDE Affiliate Gregg Colburn (Real Estate) was recently interviewed and quoted by the Washington State NPR network, KUOW, on how the 21st Century Road to Housing Act will impact Seattle. In the article, “What will Congress’s biggest housing reforms in 30 years mean for Seattle?”, Dr. Colburn discusses how the new federal housing law won’t solve Seattle’s housing shortage, but it contains useful ideas. Dr. Colburn was also on KUOW’s podcast Booming in an episode titled, “Did the US Congress just save affordable housing?” In this episode, Dr. Colburn goes into depth about the housing bill and what Washington State and other states will actually be able to deliver. Dr. Colburn was also interviewed by NPR’s podcast, The Middle, in an episode titled, “What Should Be Done About Homelessness in America?”. To learn more about this bill and Dr. Colburn’s research, visit this link to read the KUOW article, visit this link to listen to the Booming podcast, and visit this link to listen to the Middle podcast.

CSDE Affiliate Vedavati Patwardhan (Evans School) and co-authors recently published a research letter in JAMA Network Open titled, “Medication Abortion Provision by Advance Practice Clinicians and Abortion Completeness.”  In 2016, the US FDA Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy for mifepristone changed, permitting advance practice clinicians (APCs; ie, nurse practitioners [NPs], certified nurse midwives [CNMs], and physician associates [PAs]) to prescribe mifepristone. In this article, Dr. Patwardhan and co-authors find that medication abortions provided by APCs are similarly effective and safe compared with medication abortions provided by physicians. To read the full research article visit this link.

The Washington State Academy of Sciences (WSAS) recently announced the 2026 class of new members in recognition of their outstanding record of scientific and technical achievement and willingness to assist the Academy in providing the best available scientific information and technical understanding to inform complex policy decisions in Washington. CSDE Affiliate Anirban Basu (Health Economics) was elected for pioneering health economic methods—including causal estimation of personalized treatment effects, cost-effectiveness frameworks, and value-of-information analysis—that have shaped national drug pricing policies, international discussions on the economics of innovation, and the scientific foundations of the economics of precision medicine. Congratulations Dr. Basu!

CSDE Alum and External Affiliate Adam Visokay (UC Berkeley) is co-organizing the Text as Data Conference (TADA 2026) this year. The New Directions in Analyzing Text as Data (TADA) meeting is a leading forum for interdisciplinary research on the study of politics, society, and culture through computational analysis of documents. The submission deadline is August 1 and the call is for a 1 page proposal. It can be work in progress, under review, or published as the conference is non-archival. More information on the call for papers can be found here.

The Center for Aging, Health & Environment (CACHE) is a virtual research center advancing interdisciplinary collaboration on disaster and weather-related health impacts on older adults. CACHE’s Opportunity Corner links researchers to calls for abstracts, funding, virtual seminars and more. CACHE also provides seed grants annually to support research integrating social and environmental data. Follow along here.

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The June 2026 issue of Population Development Review, a journal of the Population Council, is now available, and focuses on papers studying low fertility. Read the issue here.

The UW has issued new guidance on managing international research collaborations that might yield security concerns and require appropriate diligence.  Faculty, staff, postdocs, and students should familiarize themselves with University research security policies and requirements and exercise appropriate diligence when participating in international collaborations, professional activities, and scholarly exchanges.

NIH just released three Parent Announcements for R25 Education Grants, closing May 29, 2029.

• NIH Research Education Program – Courses, Curriculum & Methods (Parent R25 – Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• NIH Research Educational Program – Mentoring Activities & Networks (Parent R25/UE5 – Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
• NIH Research Education Program – Research Experiences (Parent R25 – Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Education Program supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH.

This workshop introduces core concepts and tools for working with spatial data in Python, providing overview for geospatial data models, vector analysis with Shapely/GeoPandas, and raster processing with Rasterio/GDAL. Participants are encouraged to take an introductory Python course but not required.

• Instructor: Yuying Xie, CSSCR Consultant
• Date:  Monday, Jul 27, 2026
• Time: 1:30pm – 2:50pm
• Location: Savery 117 (Big Lab)
• Register here.

Codex is OpenAI’s coding agent, a software that has access to your project’s files and can generate code, reorganize your directories, and make slides and reports. This workshop introduces a workflow with the codex app. Note: although Codex is currently available to those with a free ChatGPT subscription, it is likely that on the date of the workshop it will require a $20/month level plan. This workshop is great for you if you have already accessed or plan to access a “Plus” level subscription.

• Instructor: Tynan Challenor, CSSCR Consultant
• Date: Tuesday, July 28, 2026
• Time: 10:00am – 11:20am
• Location: Savery 121 (Small Lab)
• Register here.

This workshop provides a practical introduction to working in ATLAS.ti, by marrying the fundamentals of the qualitative methodology with the functionality of this program. This will include conceptualizing and creating quotations, codes, memos, and comments followed by establishing thematic relationships through systematic analysis. The hands-on course assumes no familiarity with Atlas.ti, however, requires CSDE Terminal Server student access (sign up here with UWNetID).

• Instructor: Baishakhi Basu, CSSCR Consultant
• Date: Friday, Jul 31, 2026
• Time: 3:00pm – 4:20pm
• Location: Savery 121 (Small Lab)
• Register here.

The Northwestern Main and Advanced Causal Inference Workshop will hold its 15th annual meeting on Research Design for Causal Inference at Northwestern Law School in Chicago, IL. The  main workshop takes place Monday – Friday, August 3-7,  and the advanced workshop follows, Monday – Wednesday, August 10-12, with an optional machine learning primer on Sunday afternoon, August 9.

August 11, 10:00am CT | Virtual

Registration Coming Soon via the IPUMS Events page

There is a strong connection between place, healthcare access, and health. However the data traditionally used to measure spatial access are not universally available; this issue is particularly acute in countries with the poorest health outcomes. This webinar will build on a series of posts on the IPUMS DHS Spatial Analysis and Health Research Hub to provide an interactive demonstration of a healthcare accessibility workflow using globally-available, free, and high-resolution data and attach the resulting measure to IPUMS PMA data.

The Spencer Foundation seeks proposals for Vision Grants up to $75,000 by August 12, 2026. The Vision Grant program provides scholars and collaborators with the time, space, resources, and support to plan a large-scale study or program of research: geared toward real-world impact to make education systems more equitable; drawing on research across disciplines and methods; and developed through meaningful and equitable collaboration with practitioners, policymakers, communities, and other partners; and focused on transforming educational systems.

• WHEN: August 20, 2026 (all day)
• WHERE: Hybrid Conference
  • In-Person: Arts Building, Room W-120, McGill University, 853 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC
  • Online: Zoom
• TO REGISTER: CLICK HERE
• ANY QUESTIONS, contact Jennifer Proudfoot at jennifer.proudfoot@mcgill.ca
• PRELIMINARY AGENDA AVAILABLE HERE

San José, Costa Rica, 24-25 August 2026

• Registration for the workshop (restricted to ALAP participants)
• More information on Escueles ALAP

Instructors and affiliations:

• Diego Alburez-Gutierrez (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research – MPIDR)
• Enrique Acosta (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research – MPIDR & Centre for Demographic Studies, Barcelona)
• Liliana Calderón (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research – MPIDR)

Digital tools have expanded the reach of family planning programs in sub-Saharan Africa, but most existing approaches rely on one-way or rule-based messaging that cannot replicate the kind of responsive, personalized conversation that moves women from awareness to action. Recent advances in large language models have changed what is possible. AI-enabled consumer engagement tools can now hold nuanced, multi-turn conversations in local languages, respond to individual questions and concerns, and deliver personalized information at very low marginal cost across both public and private sector channels.

Applications for this RFP are due no later than August 25, 11:30 a.m. U.S. Pacific Time.

Call for papers for a small interdisciplinary workshop on Changing Fertility Preferences and Understanding Recent Fertility Decline, to be held at the Office of Population Research at Princeton University on November 13–14, 2026. The workshop will focus on new approaches to understanding fertility change, with particular attention to the measurement of fertility preferences and to factors explaining changing fertility behavior across different world regions. Submissions are due by August 25, 2026. Click here for more information. 

Diagnosing the causes, magnitude, severity, and population prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies is essential for designing appropriate treatments and interventions and for monitoring their effectiveness and safety. It is critical to assess micronutrient status together with biomarkers of infection and inflammation, and there is also a need to add bioindicators for micronutrients that are infrequently assessed but central to physiology. This Grand Challenge seeks novel approaches to extend analytical coverage, improve sensitivity and specificity, simplify measurement, reduce cost, and enable frequent monitoring of micronutrient.

Applications for this RFP are due no later than September 8, 2026, 11:30 a.m. U.S. Pacific Time.

IUSSP and its co-organizes invite papers for a workshop focused on “Aftermath of a Pandemic: Changes in Mortality and Health.” Post-pandemic periods can reveal or amplify existing health inequalities, and the effects of pandemics often extend beyond the acute phase of infection, influencing long-term patterns of mortality and overall population health. This workshop will focus on these poorly understood effects.

The workshop will be hosted by the Oslo Metropolitan University on January 28-29, 2027.

Join policymakers, geographers, researchers, business leaders, and innovators from across Africa and around the world for the Geography 2050: Africa Shaping Tomorrow Symposium. Together, participants will explore the critical geographic forces shaping Africa’s future, from urbanization and climate resilience to geospatial technologies, economic development, and regional cooperation.

Click here to register or submit abstracts.

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, 2026. 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. 

Population Dynamics in a Changing Climate – Future Directions for Climate Demography
Hybrid format: online & in-person at the University of Bologna, Italy, 28–29 January 2027

• Deadline for submissions: 20 September 2026

Organized by the University of Bologna (ERC POPCLIMA project), in collaboration with the EAPS Working Group on Climate and Demographic Change and the IUSSP Scientific Panel on Climate and Environmental Demography.

This closing conference marks five years of the ERC POPCLIMA project and brings together researchers to set the next research agenda for climate demography.

The Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood seeks LOIs by September 30, 2026. The Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood is an incubator of promising research and development projects that appear likely to improve the welfare of young children, from infancy through 7 years, in the United States. Welfare is broadly defined to include physical and mental health, safety, nutrition, education, play, familial support, acculturation, societal integration and childcare.

The International Journal of Population Data Science (IJPDS) is pleased to invite submissions for a special issue on the theme of “Artificial Intelligence for Population Data Science.”  Submissions are due September 30, 2026. The Call for Papers (CfP) for this Special Issue is here.

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People who have contact with the criminal justice system experience disproportionate social and health disadvantage both prior to and following their justice involvement, compared to the broader community. Achieving equity in areas such as health, housing, and education among people with justice system involvement should be a global priority. Simultaneously, the need to reduce offending and recidivism is central to improving public safety, strengthening justice system legitimacy, and reducing future victimisation.

In partnership with the Center for Aging and Policy Studies and Center for Policy Research at Syracuse University, The Milbank Quarterly will publish a special issue to advance knowledge on the connections between policies and population health in a changing U.S. context. The special issue seeks empirical, methodological, and theoretical contributions on the topic. Of particular interest are papers that link changes and variation in policy contexts to health outcomes, identify mechanisms linking policies to outcomes, or propose new ways to measure and conceptualize policy contexts for health research. See the call for papers for more information.

The IUSSP Early Career Awards aim to honour outstanding contributions to the broad field of population studies by early career scholars in different world regions and boost the global visibility of their achievements. Nominate colleagues by November 1, 2026. Nominees must have received their PhD within the last seven years and be IUSSP members. For more information about the Award and the nomination procedure and to fill out the application form, please go to IUSSP Early Career Awards.

The countdown to the sixth UN World Data Forum has begun! Registration is now open for the biggest global gathering of data and statistics leaders, policymakers, innovators, researchers and development partners, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 9–12 November 2026.

CACHE will be at the GSA 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting, November 4 – 7 in National Harbor, MD, and is organizing a symposium “Pushing the Boundaries on Aging-Climate Topics and Methodologies”. To learn more about the GSA and to connect with leaders in aging and gerontology, find out more here. This year’s theme: “Reinforcing Resilience in Aging Science, Research and Education.”

Demographic Research invites contributions to the Special Collection on Kinship Demography: Structures, Dynamics, and Inequalities in the journal Demographic Research, organized by Ashton Verdery, Bussarawan Puk Teerawichitchainan, Diego Alburez-Gutierrez, and Elena Maria Pojman. Submissions to this collection are possible from June 15, 2026 until December 15, 2026. Please find more information on the collection’s description and goals as well as on submission procedures here.

Call for Papers for the Special Collection “Measuring Population Health in the Era of Climate Change” in Population Health Metrics: The collection focuses on how climate change is reshaping population health and on methodological and empirical advances to measure these impacts. Submissions due February 26, 2027.