Dean Lillard, Professor in the Department of Human Sciences at Ohio State University, explores whether people save differently when they have a greater or smaller polygenic risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease. The issue is salient for two principal reasons. First, the so-called Baby Boomers are rapidly aging into ranges at which people develop Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias. Second, social scientists increasingly use variation in genetic make-up of individuals to account for individual differences in social and economic behavior. This seminar is co-sponsored with the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance.

Please visit the seminar page to reserve time to meet with Professor Lillard.

Come join us for a new data discovery presentation! Following the seminar (1:30-2:30 PM), Professor Lillard will describe the Cross-National Equivalent File (CNEF) project, an exciting data harmonization effort to integrate major cross national longitudinal studies. There are great research opporunities presented by this new data initiative! RSVP by e-mailing Kristian Haapa-aho by 9:00 AM on Thursday, 1/31/2019.

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The first meeting of the quarter for the Computational Demography Working Group will be this Thursday, 1/31/2019, 12:00-1:30 PM in Raitt Hall room 114. Nathan Welch, from the Department of Statistics, will talk about Worldpop, an open-data resource for spatial demographics. The CDWG is sponsored by CSDE and eScience. All are welcome, and lunch will be provided. Please also save the date for our remaining meetings this quarter, which will be on 2/14/2019 and 3/7/2019.

CSDE Affiliate and CSDE Executive Committee Member Heather Hill, Associate Professor at the Evans School for Public Policy and Governance, was just elected to the Policy Council of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM). According to Evans School Dean Sandra O. Archibald, “this is a terrific honor and recognition of her research and leadership contributions to our field.” Congratulations, Heather!

Preterm birth is the most frequent cause of infant mortality among African American infants, who have three times the risk of preterm-related deaths than Non-Hispanic White infants. CSDE Affiliate Amelia Gavin, Associate Professor at the School of Social Work, is advancing our understanding of the increased risk of preterm birth among African American women. Her concept paper recently published in The Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice recommends actions to mitigate the impact of racial discrimination and PTSD on the preterm birth risk among African American women.

Apply to present your awesome research at CSDE’s Lightning Talks and Poster Session by completing this short form by Friday, February 8, 2019! In the session, you can:

• Get feedback from an interdisciplinary set of scholars
• Make new connections with researchers working in similar areas
• Practice your presentation skills, perhaps to help you prepare for PAA or another upcoming conference
• Use it for a class that requires a poster presentation

Seven applicants will be chosen to give a short (~2 minute) presentation and discuss their poster with students, faculty, and other researchers in the CSDE community. Students at any stage in the research process are welcome to apply. CSDE will recognize the best poster with an award and prize. Posters will be assessed based on design, content, and presentation.

Recognize a fellow demographer (or yourself!) who has contributed to the profession. The following four awards will be presented at the 2019 PAA Annual Meeting in Austin, TX:

Robert J. Lapham Award: contribution to the population profession through the application of demographic knowledge to policy issues.

Harriet B. Presser Award: research contributions to the study of gender and demography.

Irene B. Taeuber Award: unusually original or important contribution to the scientific study of population or for an accumulated record of exceptionally sound and innovative research.

Dorothy S. Thomas Award: best graduate student paper on the interrelationships among social, economic and demographic variables.

NIH’s Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) intended to gather broad public input on a revised definition of behavioral and social sciences research (BSSR). The definition, originally developed in 1996 and updated periodically since then, is available on the OBSSR website. The field has evolved significantly during the last two decades, and a more extensive update of the BSSR definition is needed to improve OBSSR’s and NIH’s ability to assess and monitor BSSR funding. 

The RFI is available here. To ensure consideration, input must be submitted by February 22, 2019. 

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