Understanding the needs of youth eligible for extended foster care is an essential component of effective service provision for these young people. In a recent study published in the Journal of Public Child Welfare, CSDE Affiliates Kristian Jones and Emiko Tajima and Trainee Jon Torres (Social Work) examine this issue through analysis of focus group and interview data from conversations with service providers working with eligible youth. This study, entitled “Meeting them where they’re at: service provider perspectives on the needs of extended foster care participants” highlights a range of unmet service needs and suggests specific changes in the field of extended foster care. Read the full study here.
*New* CSDE Computational Demography Working Group (CDWG) Hosts Julie Kim on Estimating Subnational Fertility, Mortality, and Migration Across Social and Spatial Intersections (4/30/25)
On April 30th from 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PST, CDWG will host Julie Kim for a research talk. Julie Sojin Kim is a demographer and population health researcher currently pursuing a PhD in Health Metrics Sciences at the University of Washington, where she is affiliated with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Her research focuses on small-area estimation using Bayesian statistical methods and the development and application of demographic forecasting techniques.
Title: Estimating Subnational Fertility, Mortality, and Migration Across Social and Spatial Intersections
Traditional demographic estimates, typically reported at the national or first-administrative level, often obscure important subnational variation that reflects socioeconomic and geographic dimensions of inequality. This study aims to develop and apply small-area estimation and Bayesian statistical techniques to produce high-resolution estimates of fertility, mortality, and internal migration across socially and spatially stratified populations. Using two large and diverse countries, the United States and India, as case studies, this work models population dynamics disaggregated by combinations of education, race/ethnicity, gender, residence, and geography. Across all components, the study foregrounds intersectionality and addresses the challenges of estimating demographic indicators for smaller populations. Ultimately, I aim to develop statistical models that can help accurate measurement of uneven distribution of demographic components by place and social position and offer tools to generate evidence that can inform equitable policy and planning in diverse national contexts.
Julie holds a Master of Science degree from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Pennsylvania. During her PhD, she was affiliated with the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) through the Population and Social Data Science Summer Incubator Program and with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) through the Young Scientists Summer Program. Her work aims to generate timely, disaggregated population estimates that inform health and social policy in both national and subnational contexts. For her dissertation, she is estimating fertility, mortality, and migration across policy-relevant subpopulations, including geographic, educational, and racial-ethnic groups in India and the United States.
CDWG will be hybrid in the Spring Quarter of 2025. During this talk, Julie will join us in person at Raitt 223.
Zoom Registration is here.
Room: Raitt 223 – The Demography lab
Professor, Gerontology – UMass Boston (Ongoing)
*New* Nicolai Wohns to present at the CSDE Biomarker Working Group Meeting (5/1/2025)
On 5/1 from 12:00-1:00 pm, Dr. Nicolai Wohns will be presenting at the monthly CSDE Biomarker Working Group meeting. The Biomarker Working Group is a forum for discussing practical and theoretical issues related to collecting and using biomarker data in population research. This event takes a hybrid format, meeting in Raitt 223 and on Zoom.
Nicolai Wohns is a physician and PhD candidate in philosophy at UW, studying the philosophy of aging, with particular interest in ethical and epistemic implications of geroscience. Dr. Wohns will present a talk entitled “The Ethics of Age Estimators.”
Age estimators have been shown to predict chronological age, onset of aging-related diseases, all-cause mortality, and disease-specific mortality, as well as other variables, such as income level, physical exercise, and vegetable intake. While their potential as diagnostic and prognostic instruments is considerable, these technologies also raise pressing ethical concerns—both within clinical settings and across society more broadly. In this work-in-progress talk, I examine the concept of biological age and explore a range of ethical challenges posed by the use of biological clocks.
Apply for the UW Democracy & Civic Health Initiative (5/1/25)
The Democracy & Civic Health Initiative is pleased to offer a Catalyst Fund that awards small grants to encourage the development of new research innovations for activities and projects that seek to revitalize civic health and bolster democratic institutions across the country. The purpose of this grant is to support faculty members and PI-eligible research staff to develop preliminary data or proof-of-concept needed to pursue follow-on funding or additional concept development to scale one’s efforts. Research projects should seek to catalyze new lines of inquiry and may include, but not be limited to, qualitative or qualitative empirical work, data analysis, evidence synthesis, comparative study, and so forth. Awards of up to $25,000 per project will be available with a project period of up to 12 months. Learn more here.
*New* Registration Open for the 2025 Natural Hazards Workshop (5/2/25)
This year’s Workshop will focus on the theme of The Next 50 Years: Charting a Course for the Hazards and Disaster Field. You can visit this page to learn more about registration for the Natural Hazards Workshop, which will be held July 13 to 16. Workshop registration is capped at 750 attendees, and you can also register for the Researchers Meeting that follows from July 16 to 17, or the Practitioners Meeting on July 17.
Accommodations
The Workshop, Researchers Meeting, and Practitioners Meeting will be held in person at theOmni Interlocken Hotel in Broomfield, Colorado. Please visit the accommodations section of our website for information about meals, transportation, and nearby attractions. This is also where you can access special hotel rates and learn about other nearby lodging options.
Updates or Questions
Please share this email with others who might want to attend and encourage them to visit our sign-up page. You can also get Workshop updates from our NHC LinkedIn and Bluesky accounts. If you are unable to register without approval from your agency or organization, or if you have other questions, please email us at: hazards.workshop@colorado.edu.
*New* York University Centre for Refugee Studies 2025 Summer Course – Climate Migration Futures: Shaping the Research Agenda for 2050 (Application Deadline 5/25/2025)
Matt Weatherford Elected to University of Washington Computing Directors Group
Our own Matt Weatherford was recommended for membership to the University of Washington Computing Directors Group. The purpose of the Computing Directors Group is to facilitate communication and collaboration between central UW-IT teams and those at the college and unit level (distributed IT). The aim is to collaboratively specify, design, and develop central IT solutions and ensure that those solutions work not only for central campus IT teams, but also all represented entities. Matt’s teams at CSDE and the UW Data Collaborative have a focus on research and students, as well as including an IT compliance and security focus that enables his team to host regulated research data including Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).
*New* UW Center for Evaluation & Research for STEM Equity Graduate Research Student Assistants Summer 2025 (4/29/25)
CSDE Research Scientist Deven Hamilton Develops Survey Modules and Agent-based Network Models
CSDE Senior Research Scientist Deven Hamilton provides direct support for the development of survey modules to collect egocentric network data and sexual behaviour data that will be fielded as part of an upcoming RCT. These data, in conjunction with the RCT results, will serve as the empirical basis for an agent-based epidemic model to estimate the health and economic impact of scaling up WHO-recommended STI PPT and doxyPEP in Kenya. Hamilton is also responsible for building the agent-based network model and running the epidemic simulations in support of the overall project aims.
This work is part of a recently approved R01 grant (A187468) developed by CSDE Affiliate Susan M. Graham, Professor of Global Health and Medicine (PI), Hamilton, and colleagues. This study’s goal is to evaluate the effectiveness of two RCT interventions on Gonorrhea: WHO-recommended periodic presumptive treatment (PPT) and doxy-Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), compared to standard syndromic treatment for reducing STI burden among Kenyan MSM. This project will also assess the acceptability, feasibility, and safety of implementing WHO-recommended PPT and doxy-PEP compared to standard care among providers and patients.
To arrange a consulting appointment with Deven Hamilton or any of CSDE’s scientific support staff, please use the CSDE Science Core Consultation Request form.