CSDE Trainee Tess Abrahamson-Richards (Social Work), former CSDE Trainee Elizabeth Pelletier, CSDE Affiliate Jennifer Romich (Social Work), and co-author Kilohana Haitsuka recently published an article titled, “Perinatal Wage Equity, Parental Leave Access, and Reproductive Justice Among American Indian and Alaska Native Working Mothers in Washington State,” in Social Service Review. The authors used mixed methods and grounded their analysis in an Indigenous theoretical framework.

CSDE Affiliate Kemi M. Doll (Obstetrics & Gynecology) was quoted in Scientific American in coverage of a decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to remove the black box warning on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) medications for menopause. Estrogen-only therapies, however, will still carry labels that share the risk of endometrial or uterine cancer. Doll emphasized that people who have a uterus should be aware of the risks of these treatments.

CSDE Affiliate Marie Spiker (Epidemiology) was recently quoted in The Seattle Times emphasizing the strong evidence base on the negative health consequences of food insecurity. Spiker was interviewed for an article on how the federal government shutdown threw the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) into uncertainty, leaving 930,000 people in Washington at risk of food insecurity. This feature was also highlighted in UW News. Read more.

CSDE External Affiliate Butch de Castro (Seattle University) and CSDE Affiliate Teresa M Ward (Pediatrics), with primary author Natalie Rejto and co-authors Mayumi Willgerodt and Elaine Walsh, recently had an article published in the Western Journal of Nursing Research, titled “Nursing Work Schedules, Specialties, Sleep Hygiene, and the Impact on Sleep Health.” This research was part of Rejto’s PhD work and supervised by the other authors on the research team.

CSDE Affiliate Kristian Jones (Social Work) just published a new article, “Friends in Our Lives: Perspectives of Young People Who Participated in a Professional Mentoring Program,” in the Journal of Applied Youth Studies. Despite the emerging utilization of professional mentoring programs, little is known about the ideal characteristics of a professional mentor and young people’s experiences in these professional mentoring programs. Jones and co-authors interviewed 12 young people who participated in the same professional mentoring program in different regions of the United States.

CSDE Affiliate Mia M. Bennett (Geography) has released a new book, Unfrozen: The Fight for the Future of the Arctic, published by Yale University Press. Together with co-author Klaus Dodds, Bennett examines the state of the Arctic today–emphasizing the twin dangers of climate change and geopolitical competition. Unfrozen reveals how the region is becoming a space of experimentation for everything from Indigenous governance to subsea technologies.

CSDE Affiliate Maria Bleil (Child, Family, and Population Health Nursing) has been awarded an NIH grant “Improving health among disadvantaged girls to slow pubertal onset and reduce long-term health risks”, which tests whether positive health behavior change among prepubertal girls may lesson risk for earlier pubertal onset and associated cardiometabolic outcomes. Dr. Bleil has also been awarded, along with Dr. Rui Li (PI), an NIH grant “Understanding the role of early life social determinants and sex-specific pubertal pathways in the development of adolescent chronic pain”,

We are pleased to announce that CSDE Director, Sara Curran, has been elected to serve as the North America Representative on the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) Council for the 2026–2029 term. In this role, she will help guide IUSSP’s scientific agenda, foster collaboration among population researchers, and represent the interests of members across North America.

The Population Research Center at Portland State University, directed by CSDE External Affiliate Ethan Sharygin (Portland State University), has published a resource guide for finding federal data during the shutdown. These sources include Census Reporter, Esri, PolicyMap, IPUMS, NHGIS, and the Data Rescue Project Portal.

CSDE Affiliates Hyun-Jun Kim (Social Work) and Karen Fredriksen-Goldsen (Social Work), along with co-authors Hailey H. Jung and Austin Oswald, published an article in Social Science & Medicine, on “Intersectional Health Disparities Among U.S. Midlife and Older Adults Focusing on Sexual Orientation and Race and Ethnicity: Evidence from a Population-Based Study.” The authors examined health disparities by race, gender, and sexual orientation using the 2013-2023 National Health Interview Survey data and tested for synergistic effects,