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Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology

*New* CSSS Seminar: Am I redundant? How AI will shape the Future of Work (2/7/24)

Join CSSS for a seminar with Dr. Shamsi T. Iqbal on Wednesday, Feb. 7th at 12:30 in 409 Raitt and on Zoom (register here). Dr. Shamsi T. Iqbal is a Principal Applied and Data Science Manager at Microsoft, where she leads research on science and data-backed innovations for the Viva Insights product. Learn more about her talk in the full story on the event page.

Abstract:

The world of work has undergone many challenges in recent times. The newest disruptor, Artificial intelligence (AI), in the backdrop of Remote and Hybrid work, is yet again transforming work in ways that are unprecedented. AI can augment human capabilities, automate tasks, create new jobs, and disrupt existing ones and enable organizations to revamp their working styles to achieve desired outcomes. How can workers and employers adapt to these changes and leverage the potential of AI for social and economic benefits? Who is best positioned to benefit from AI and how? This talk will provide an overview of the current state and future trends of AI and its impact on the labor market, skills, education, and ethics. It will also discuss challenges in determining success metrics for AI in its impact on the future of work.

Opportunity for Funding – Systems for Action: Systems and Services Research to Address Systemic Racism (Due 2/7/24)

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation invites faculty and PIs to apply for this funding opportunity with a deadline of 2/7/24. This opportunity will provide funding for a new cohort of research studies to produce new, actionable evidence about how to help medical, social, and public health systems work together to address forms of systemic racism. Each study funded under this CFP must identify a specific form of systemic racism that limits health and wellbeing for affected populations; and investigate a novel systems alignment strategy for solving the problem that engages relevant representatives from medical care, public health, and social services systems. The systems alignment strategy to be studied must engage all three types of systems that comprise the health and social ecosystem in American communities—medical care, public health, and social services. Read the full RFP here.

Seminar: Dr. Supreet Kaur from UC Berkeley’s Department of Economics (2/12/24)

The Evans School will host Dr. Supreet Kaur with co-sponsor, the Joint Seminar on Development Economics on Monday, Feb 12th from 11:00-12:30PM in 410 Savory Hall. Dr. Kaur is a development economist with research overlap in behavioral and labor economics. Dr. Kaur’s research focuses on the functioning of labor markets in poor countries by documenting frictions in labor markets, the causes of unemployment, and examining the impact of inequality on labor productivity. A second line of research explores how psychological forces–such as the limits of human cognition and social norms–can affect individual behavior and market equilibria. By applying insights from psychology into economics, Dr. Kaur’s goal is to deepen our understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty. Specific talk information will be shared closer to Dr. Kaur’s visit. 

CSDE Welcomes Parwati Martin as New Budget/Fiscal Analyst Lead

CSDE welcomes a new Budget/Fiscal Analyst Lead to the administrative team! Parwati Martin has been with the University of Washington since 2012 and was previously with the Geography Department for almost 8 years! Parwati has vast experience in her field including receiving an internship from UW Accounts Payable while completing her Bookkeeping Certificate. She received her AA in Accounting at North Seattle College and then went on to join UW in 2012 to work for Housing and Food Services’ Cash Office for four years. She then later joined the Geography Department as Fiscal Specialist in 2016. Parwati’s interests include enjoying the outdoors, weight lifting, hiking, playing with her cat and dog, and dancing, specifically Indonesian Traditional Dance.

 We are so excited to have Parwati be a part of the CSDE team. Some of her responsibilities will be to manage staff payroll and components of academic staff/faculty compensation, provide fiscal management of Center and grant funding, and serve as approver for Workday entries. The best way to reach her is by email at pnmartin@uw.edu.

CSDE Computational Demography Working Group (CDWG) Hosts David Coomes on Examining the Role of Migration in the Rural Mortality Penalty (3/6/24)

David Coomes, a PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology and CSDE T32 Fellow (UW) will join CSDE to discuss his work examining the role of migration in the rural mortality penalty. The rural mortality penalty, in which rural areas have higher age-adjusted mortality rates as compared to more urban areas, has emerged over the last few decades in the US. Previous research has focused on characteristics of rural areas, such as access to healthcare, while little work has paid attention to how the process of migration shapes rural populations and impacts population health measures. This project uses national death records and IRS migration data to measure the association between all-cause mortality and migration by county in the US. CDWG Will be Hybrid in Winter Quarter 2024. Attend in-person in 223 Raitt or on Zoom (register here).

Chen Awarded NASA Early Career Investigator Award

CSDE Affiliate Professor Tzu-Hsin Karen Chen (College of Built Environment and School of Public Health) has just learned that she has been awarded a NASA Early Career Investigator Program in Earth Science for a project that will examine heat impacts on human health in urban settings in the Mediterranean.  The project aims to understand the influence of 3-D urban land cover/land use changes (urban LCLUC) on extreme humid heat and its subsequent impact on health burden in the Mediterranean region. Utilizing machine learning techniques on multi-sensor remote sensing data, climate variability analysis, and epidemiological methods, the study will identify urban LCLUC patterns and their role in mediating the health impact of heat stress. They produced datasets of 3-D urban structure over 2000-2022 will allow us to integrate large-scale dynamic exposure assessment into environmental health studies. Together with our regional partners, we will provide data-driven knowledge and tools to foster healthy spaces and communities in the face of climate change. If you want to learn more about Karen’s work, please join CSDE for this week’s panel on climate impacts on population health.  Karen will be presenting around her innovative research.

Media Sources Feature Goodreau’s Research on Decreasing Condom Use and Public Health Messaging on PrEP

Research by CSDE Affiliate Steven Goodreau (Anthropology) led to a recent article in AIDS and Behavior, which measures changes in condomless anal sex (CAS) among HIV-negative men who have sex with men (MSM) who are not taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The study found an increase in CAS for MSM not on PrEP, suggesting potential new HIV transmission pathways. Goodreau released a commentary in AIDS, discussing the findings and raising concern that public health’s increased emphasis on PrEP may be related to decreased condom use. This concern was also featured in a New York Times article by Benjamin Ryan, where Goodreau was quoted – “The goal of promoting PrEP is a valuable one, but it has overshadowed other prevention strategies like condoms”. UW News also featured Goodreau’s work in an interview with Lauren Kirschman, where Goodreau highlighted how “In the end, it’s key to remember that things like condom use are highly subject to social norms — many people use what they see and hear from their peers and beyond as a guide for their own decisions. Even just a little bit more attention to the topic may help to get many of those conversations started again.”