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Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology

CSDE Alum Siobhán Mattison is Interviewed by CSSS

CSDE alum Dr. Siobhán Mattison was interviewed as part of CSSS’s Alumni Spotlight series. Mattison is an associate professor of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico and director of the Human Family and Evolutionary Demography Lab. In 2010, she graduated with a PhD in Anthropology from UW, where she was also a CSDE fellow. Her research interests include kinship, parenting, reproduction, social inequality, human behavioral ecology, demography, mixed methods, China, and Vanuatu (an island country in the South Pacific). In the CSSS interview, Mattison discusses aspects related to her professional trajectory, including her experience as CSSS, her role as a program director at the NSF, and advice for current graduate students. Read the full interview here! 

Seattle’s 2021 Heat Dome Associated with Excess Healthcare Utilization: New Research by Hess and Co-authors

CSDE Affiliate Dr. Jeremy Hess (Emergency Medicine, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, Global Health) co-authored research in JACEP Open, titled “Impacts of the 2021 heat dome on emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and health system operations in three hospitals in Seattle, Washington.” Extreme heat events (EHEs) are associated with excess healthcare utilization but specific impacts on emergency department (ED) operations and throughput are unknown. In 2021, the Pacific Northwest experienced an unprecedented heat dome that resulted in substantial regional morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to examine its impact on ED utilization, unplanned hospitalization, and hospital operations in a large academic healthcare system. The researchers found an increase in demand for emergency care and unplanned hospitalizations. They also found that EDs were more crowded and patients had longer ED lengths of stay during the heat dome, all of which highlight the need for capacity management in future EHEs.

CSDE Computational Demography Working Group (CDWG) Hosts Yiwei Xu on Digital and computational approaches to public health communication research (01/31/2024)

On January 31st from 3:00 – 4:00 pm, CDWG will host Dr.Yiwei Xu. Yiwei Xu is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the UW Center for an Informed Public and Information School, she’s also a Data Science Postdoctoral Fellow at the UW eScience Institute. She will share her work on using digital and computational approaches to conduct public health communication research. She will share two studies; Study 1 was published in Health Communication titled “Collective Information Seeking During a Health Crisis: Predictors of Google Trends During COVID-19”; Study 2 is work in progress titled “Community Characteristics Predict Local News Agenda Building about Racial Health Disparities”. CDWG Will be Hybrid in Winter Quarter 2024. Attend in-person in 223 Raitt Hall (The Demography Lab) or on Zoom (register here).

Berridge to Present on AI for Older Adults at Oxford Internet Politics & Policy Conference

CSDE Affiliate Dr. Clara Berridge (Social Work) presented research “AI Companion Robot Data Sharing: Preferences of an Online U.S. Cohort with Policy Implications,” at the Oxford Internet Politics & Policy Conference on Saturday (Jan. 27th). This research was recently featured by KUOW’s Soundside episode, “Assistive tech for older adults is becoming increasingly automated. What are the privacy risks?” where you can learn more about findings!

 

Chan and Yang’s Commentary on China’s Urban Youth is Published in Caixin Weekly

CSDE Affiliate Dr. Kam Wing Chan (Geography) and former CSDE trainee Dr. Xiaxia Yang (postdoc at King’s College, London) have recently published a commentary in Caixin Weekly, a major economics weekly in China. The title of their commentary is “The Secret of Chinese Cities being So Young”. Their argument is based on a research paper they published last year, featured on CSDE website earlier. A full copy of the commentary is here.

New Tool to Identify Caregivers’ Topical Fluoride Hesitancy is Developed by Chi and Colleagues

CSDE Affiliate Dr. Donald Chi (Health Systems and Population Health, Oral Health Sciences) co-authored research in Plos One, titled “Psychometric properties of the Fluoride Hesitancy Identification Tool (FHIT)“. Some caregivers are hesitant about topical fluoride for their children despite evidence that fluoride prevents caries and is safe. Recent work described a five domain model of caregivers’ topical fluoride hesitancy. Authors developed the Fluoride Hesitancy Identification Tool (FHIT) item pool based on the model. This study sought to evaluate the FHIT’s psychometric properties in an effort to generate a short, simple to score, reliable, and valid tool that measures caregivers’ topical fluoride hesitancy.

*New* NSF SBE Dear Colleague Letter Encourages Research on the Science of Bias, Prejudice and Discrimination

The National Science Foundation’s Social, Behavioral and Economics Directorate encourages research proposals that expand the breadth and depth of scholarship in the science of bias, prejudice and discrimination. SBE highly encourages proposals submitted in response to its Dear Colleague Letter to plan their research in partnership with communities directly impacted by bias, prejudice, and discrimination such that the experiences and perspectives of those directly impacted by bias and discrimination are reflected in the approach. Read the full letter here.