CSDE Research Scientist June Yang, PhD, along with Ihsan Kahveci, PhD candidate in Sociology and CSDE trainee, and CSDE Affiliate Zack W. Almquist, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology and Statistics (PI), have been leading a project to develop open-source software facilitating the data collection about the unhoused population in King County, WA.
This project aims to develop scientific software to support the implementation of a network-based data collection and estimation method (building on Respondent-Driven Sampling) for enumerating unsheltered people in King County. The software is centered around a web-based app, providing a one-stop solution for recording network information and survey responses from respondents. The software also features a HIPAA-compliant design to facilitate additional data linkages with existing systems such as Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). The project is funded through a UW Population Health Initiative Tier III grant.
Dr. Yang has been providing direct support for project development, which includes, but is not limited to, usability research, scoping, team recruitment, software design, and development. As part of a broader project team working on data collection and analysis of homelessness experiences, Dr. Yang has been supporting the data processing and analytical work on the survey data collected in 2023 and is expected to support the next step in grant applications arising from this effort.
To arrange a consultation appointment with June Yang or any of CSDE’s scientific support staff, please use the CSDE Science Core Consultation Request form.
Join us on May 8th from 2:00 – 3:30pm for a workshop that will provide an introduction to biospecimen data collection with CSDE Biodemography Lab Director Tiffany Pan. We will cover ethical considerations, a broad range of specimen types, equipment and supplies needed for transport and storage, analyte stability, and other practical factors for designing a study that involves specimen collection and storage for downstream biomarker analyses. No prior experience with biomarker research is necessary.
The workshop will be fully remote. A Zoom link for online attendance will be provided upon registration. Register here.
CSDE Affiliates Griselda Martinez (lead author) and Katarina Guttmannova (senior author) both in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and colleagues analyzed patterns of cannabis use, related risk factors such as norms about and perceived harm from use, and their associations over the course of young adulthood in a legalized nonmedical cannabis context using 2015-2022 data from young adults in Washington State. The results, published in this Prevention Science article, suggest preventive intervention efforts should include sustained focus on cannabis-specific risk factors across young adulthood. Read the full article here.
Most studies of the aftermath of war have examined the perspectives of refugees, veterans in the U.S., or survivors in Europe. In a recent news article published by Science, CSDE External Affiliate Kim Korinek (University of Utah) describes how her team’s Vietnam Health and Aging Study has created a new source of data to measure early life trauma exposure and health in later life among people in Vietnam. CSDE Biodemography Lab Director and Research Scientist Tiffany Pan and CSDE Affiliate Melanie Martin supported the biomarker data collection for this project. In the article, Korinek explains that these data will help more comprehensively document the lasting consequences of violence and conflict. Read the full article here.
IPUMS NHGIS now includes 1970 census block boundaries! This is the first-ever release of digital data for these areas, extending our collection of block boundaries to span six censuses across five decades. This release covers all or part of 21 metro areas, including the cores of 7 of the 8 largest metros in 1970 — New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, San Francisco-Oakland, Washington, Boston — as well as Dallas-Fort Worth, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Milwaukee, and Sacramento. To learn more and to access the data, see the 1970 Block Boundaries page.
IPUMS CPS has added the February and March basic monthly data. Additionally, we have extended previously available supplement variables to cover additional years for the Volunteer and Civic Engagement Supplement, Food Security Supplement, and Tobacco Use Supplement. IPUMS CPS harmonizes microdata from the monthly U.S. labor force survey, the Current Population Survey (CPS), covering the period 1962 to the present. Data include demographic information, rich employment data, program participation and supplemental data on topics such as fertility, tobacco use, volunteer activities, voter registration, computer and internet use, food security, and more.
CSDE Trainee Mark Nepf (Evans School) received the Applied Research Fellowship from UW’s Population Health Initiative for Summer 2025. This program, implemented in partnership with CSDE, offers students training in data analysis, critical thinking and team science skills that will help them solve complex population health challenges on their way to becoming future leaders in population health. Learn more about this fellowship here.
The National Center for Health Statistics has approved a groundbreaking research project at the Northwest Federal Statistical Research Data Center (NWFSRDC), titled “Climate-Driven Disasters and Deaths.” This project, led by CSDE Affiliate Joan Casey (Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences), aims to explore the profound impacts of climate change-exacerbated natural disasters on vulnerable populations. The research team includes experts from various institutions: CSDE Trainee Lauren Blair Wilner and Elizabeth Blake from the University of Washington School of Public Health, Matthew Kiang from Stanford University School of Medicine, and Kara Rudolph and Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
Please visit the FSRDC website to learn more about the wide-ranging data available through the NWFSRDC, the process to access these data, and how to contact the center.