CSDE Affiliate Ann Bostrom published an article with a distinguished research team, “Planning to Reduce the Health Impacts of Extreme Heat: A Content Analysis of Heat Action Plans in Local United States Jurisdictions,” in the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH). The study was led by Evans MPA Juliette Randazzo and was one of two featured articles in the AJPH Weekly Newsletter.

CSDE Affiliates Zack Almquist, Amy Hagopian, and Nathalie Williams are rolling out a pilot project to test  out a new method for improving the required unsheltered Homelessness count (often called the Point-in-Time Count). The plan is to administer short surveys to individuals experiencing homelessness across 10+ sites from April 17-May 15 using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) methods. We are currently looking for graduate student volunteers to help manage the sites’ data collection teams. Site managers are expected to commit at least 4 hours per week to manage coupons for the RDS recruitment, supervise undergraduates, and help administer surveys at your chosen location. You can see site locations here and detailed site manager responsibilities here. There may be some compensation for site managers and reimbursements or car rentals for help to get to remote locations. Research, sensitivity, and trauma training will also be provided. Additionally, there will be opportunities to publish papers, policy reports, and earn independent study credits with Zack. Learn more about the project here and fill out this Google form if you are interested in joining.

Please join the CDWG for a fascinating presentation on a novel method for sampling hard to reach populations. In April 2022 King County Regional Homelessness Authority (King County Continuum of Care) with CSDE Affiliate Zack Almquist ran a novel method known as Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) to estimate the total population of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness in King County at a single point-in-time. This is based on the HUD reporting mandate, where every Continuum of Care (CoC) attempt to count the total number of unhoused residents in a single night (see https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/hdx/pit-hic/) every two years.

 

Because 2023 is skip year in the HUD requirement, a UW Team of researchers is going to run a second RDS PIT count for King County in the month of April. Beyond running an RDS similar to KCRHA’s RDS PIT count we will also run an over sample of the Puget Sound Data Survey for people experiencing homelessness and novel Cell phone based RDS pilot.

 

More information: https://sites.uw.edu/rds-pit2023/uw-rds-pit-2023-main-page/

CSDE Affiliate Tyler McCormick has just been elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.  Tyler is recognized for the development of statistical models for inference and prediction in scientific settings where data are sparsely observed or measured with error. His recent projects include estimating features of social networks (e.g. the degree of clustering or how central an individual is) using data from standard surveys, inferring a likely cause of death (when deaths happen outside of hospitals) using reports from surviving caretakers, and quantifying & communicating uncertainty in predictive models for global health policymakers.

 

This summer, CSDE is offering its Grant Writing Summer Program (GWSP) to assist scholars in preparing applications to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). CSDE aims to demystify the grant-writing process and create a supportive environment that produces grant proposals ready for submission to the NIH within the coming year. We have a strong track record of successful funding for participants.

Participants will meet in person every other week for 10 weeks over the summer. They will learn more about the details of NIH grant mechanisms, writing, and reviewing, while also engaging in intensive writing of their own proposals. Participants will be paired with a senior mentor who will review their proposals, and participants will also review each other’s work.

Applying to the GWSP is open to CSDE affiliates (UW and external) as well as to local post-docs writing K awards with one or more CSDE affiliates on their mentoring team. If accepted, the program is free for applicants in these groups. Other researchers in the Seattle area are also eligible to apply and may be accepted if space is available; the program fee is $7,500 for these applicants. Current graduate students are not eligible to apply.

Applications are due May 12, 2023.

For more information, and to apply, please see  https://csde.washington.edu/research/csde-grant-writing-summer-program/.  Still have questions? Email Steve Goodreau at goodreau@uw.edu.

CSDE Trainee and CSDE NIH T32 Fellow Delaney Glass  was just awarded a Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant! Her award winning grant is titled “Rethinking Evolutionary and Proximate Drivers of Pubertal Timing among Jordanian Non-Refugee and Syrian Refugee Adolescents.”

This grant program funds doctoral or thesis research that advances anthropological knowledge. Their goal is to support vibrant and significant work that furthers our understanding of what it means to be human. Congratulations Delaney!