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Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology

CSDE Lunch & Learn: Telomere Length as a Measure of Environmental Exposure

Each quarter, CSDE offers 3-5 workshops on data sources, statistical and biomarker methodology, introductions to analysis programs, and more, all given by CSDE staff and faculty affiliates. These workshops can include hands-on training in novel methods and programming, lectures on innovative data sources, and discussions of important issues in research and data collection. There is just one more workshop on Wednesday, Dec 6th. They are happy to accommodate a few more registrants (register here).

CSDE Computational Demography Working Group (CDWG) Hosts Kaiping Chen on Applying Computational Methods to Examine Equity in Science Communication (12/06/23)

On December 6 from 3:30-4:30 pm Kaiping Chen, an Assistant Professor in Computational Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will join CDWG to discuss how to apply computational methods (e.g., NLP, computer vision, network) to examine equity in science communication from digital media to conversational AI. CDWG Will be Hybrid in Fall Quarter 2023. The discussion will take place in 223 Raitt Hall (The Demography Lab) and on Zoom (register here). Dr. Chen will also introduce how her team develops computational technologies — democratic deliberation technologies, to empower under-served communities in public policymaking. You can follow her on: @Kaiping_Chen.

CSDE’s UW Data Collaborative Receives 2nd Endorsement from UW Office of Information Security

CSDE’s UW Data Collaborative is a unique, secure data enclave for researchers collaborating on highly sensitive or proprietary data. In November 2023, the UW Office of Information Security renewed its endorsement of the UW Data Collaborative (UWDC) after a reviewing its infrastructure, updated security protocols and practices safeguarding highly-sensitive, restricted-use data stored within its computing systems.  The UWDC first received this endorsement from the Office of the Chief Information Security Officer and Associate Vice President of Infrastructure at UW-IT in 2020. If you would like to learn more about the UWDC, contact Sofia Ayala sgayala@uw.edu UWDC Director or visit their website.
In the endorsement letter, Mark Nardone, Associate Vice President & Chief Information Security Officer at UW Office of Information Security, writes:
“The UW Office of Information Security enthusiastically supports the UW Data Collaborative (UWDC) mission. OIS recognizes UWDC’s dedication to ensuring the security and integrity of its systems, data, and processes to provide essential high-powered analytic computing services to the University’s research community. … The security model and infrastructure employed by the UWDC are robust and follow contemporary best practices, allowing for the broad use and safe handling of sensitive data within a tightly controlled and hardened environment.”
The UWDC welcomes this endorsement from UW’s information security leadership in recognition of our continuous efforts to provide an up-to-date secure research environment that meets all physical and information security requirements for storage of, access to, and research with sensitive and confidential restricted-use data from research community partners such as State of Washington agencies.
The UW Data Collaborative (UWDC) provides the infrastructure to harness innovative, but hard-to-access data for the development of novel, high-quality research and evidence-driven policy making. Central to the UWDC is a state-of-the art computing cluster that provides access to restricted data in a secure and computationally sophisticated environment. A key objective of the UWDC is to foster collaborative relationships between UW researchers and community partners, including government organizations, non-profits, and other service providers, interested in better utilizing their data for cross-cutting research, program evaluation, and policy development.

*New* Support Available for Data Collection Through SDRG’s Survey Research Division

Have a funded project and need some help collecting primary data? Talk to Danielle Woodward – Director of the Survey Research Division at the Social Development Research Group (SDRG), which is connected to UW’s School of Social Work. SDRG can provide many different services to support research, including: recruitment and data collection for surveys across many modalities health measurement and bio-specimen collection; and, sample tracking/subject locating. Email Danielle at dgangnes@uw.edu.

 

*New* NIH designates people with disabilities as population with health disparities

Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, M.D., director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), designated people with disabilities as a population with health disparities for research supported by the National Institutes of Health. The decision was made in consultation with Robert Otto Valdez, Ph.D., the director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, after careful consideration of a report delivered by an NIMHD advisory council, input from the disability community and a review of the science and evidence. A report issued in December 2022 by the Advisory Committee to the (NIH) Director (ACD), informed by the work of the Subgroup on Individuals with Disabilities, explored similar issues faced by people with disabilities. The designation is one of several steps NIH is taking to address health disparities faced by people with disabilities and ensure their representation in NIH research.