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Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology

Measuring the Impact of Wildfire Smoke: Casey Contributes to a New Framework

CSDE Affiliate Joan Casey co-authored an article in The Conversation that details the limitations of current scientific approaches to measuring the “intermittent yet ongoing” exposure to wildfire smoke that many Americans now endure. The article highlights a recent study that proposes a new framework and five metrics which can be used to measure long-term exposure to fine particulate matter from wildfire smoke. Casey’s research linking wildfire smoke to mental health conditions including dementia risk was also mentioned in a recent interview with KQED. Listen here.

Berridge and Team Members Awarded Grant from the Massachusetts General Hospital Roybal Center for Dyadic Research in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias

CSDE Affiliate Clara Berridge (Social Work) has been awarded a $777,488 grant to conduct a two-year pilot through the new Massachusetts General Hospital Roybal Center for Behavioral Dyadic Research in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias, supported by NIA. Berridge, David Huh (Social Work), and other members of the study team at the Clinical Informatics Research Group will conduct an RCT to test mechanisms and outcomes of Let’s Talk Tech, the first tool to help care partners and people living with dementia understand and make decisions about digital health technologies. A goal of this dyadic intervention is to enable families to identify and discuss preferences about technology use held by people living with dementia and mild cognitive impairment and to prepare their care partners to make informed, person-centered decisions in the future. This research will continue to advance scientific knowledge about how to enable empowered shared decision making about digital health technologies in the context of an expanding field of AI-integrated devices.

Swanson to Present at 47th Fulbright Association Annual Meeting

CSDE External Affiliate David Swanson (UC Riverside) will present a paper entitled Population Aging in the Western Hemisphere: 2020 to 2050 in the virtual track of the annual meeting of the Fulbright Association on November 8. The paper finds that the Western Hemisphere is facing a significant increase in the population aged 65 years and over, which is expected to more than double between 2020 and 2050. In addition to the findings about upcoming demographic changes, the paper discusses policy implications of these changes for the Western Hemisphere and its multiple regions. Learn more about the conference here.

Audrey Dorélien Joins CSDE as the New Training Core PI

Professor Audrey Dorélien has joined CSDE’s leadership team as the new Training Core PI! Dr. Dorélien is a new faculty member in the Sociology Department at UW and is a CSDE Research Affiliate as well. She previously taught at the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs for 10 years. Her research agenda strives to elucidate how human population dynamics and behavior intersect with environmental conditions to affect health. Her recent work analyzes the effects of early life exposures (especially seasonal factors) on child health in sub-Saharan Africa and the United States. Another current strand of research describes and analyzes contact patterns (age pattern of social contacts, and age-specific contact matrices showing whom interacts with whom) in the United States. The latter has important implications for the study and control of infectious diseases, such as influenza, measles, and COVID-19. She also has conducted research on spatial demography/ urbanization with a focus on implications for health and climate change vulnerability. Her research has appeared in Population Development Review, Demography, Journal of Urban Health, Population Health Metrics, Demographic Research, Biodemography and Social Biology, Journal of Hypertension, Journal of Affective Disorders, and PLoS ONE. Reach out to Dr. Dorélien for about our T32 fellowship and other opportunities for trainees. 

Will von Geldern is the New CSDE RA for the 24-25 Academic Year, Welcome (back) to CSDE!

CSDE is happy to have Will von Geldern as our new Research Assistant for the 2024-2025 Academic Year. Will is a PhD student at the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. He is also a former CSDE Trainee! His dissertation research focuses on the individual and structural barriers that low-income tenants face when trying to access eviction-related legal aid. He will now be taking over the CSDE newsletter for the academic year and will also be assisting during our CSDE Seminar Series! Please continue to send your news stories and research to csde@uw.edu. If you have any program related questions, reach out to our Program Coordinator, Maddie Farris, at csde-prgm-coord@uw.edu. If you have any computing questions, email csde_help@uw.edu. We are excited for Will to join the CSDE team this year!