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Caregiving responsibilities at home may impact working mothers’ intentions to expand family

Woman cooking in kitchen

A study published in the European Sociological Review by former HCPDS Graduate Student Affiliate Sinn Won Han, current HCPDS Graduate Student Affiliate Ohjae Gowen, and HCPDS faculty member Mary Brinton expands recent research that shows an increase in both female labor force participation and fertility rates (a change signaling possible greater gender equality within the household) by looking at the impact of the persistent “gender-role ideology” that continues to prioritize…

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What is the association between social integration and mortality risk among African Americans?

Profiles of people cut out in paper

This examination followed over 5,000 African-Americans (until 2018) from the Jackson Heart Study who completed the Berkman-Syme Social Network Index (2000–2004). Watch this 90-second summary of a paper that was published in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology with HCPDS faculty member Laura Kubzansky, PhD, and incoming Harvard Bell Postdoctoral Fellow Hayami Koga, MD, MPH, PhD, among its authors.

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Analysis streamlines measurement of physiological ‘wear and tear’

Tables of biomarkers from study

The measurement of allostatic load (cumulative biological dysregulation related to life course stressors) varies widely across studies, making it difficult to rely on the measurement to help predict mortality. An analysis published in Psychoneuroendocrinology has pinpointed five biomarkers that predict mortality as accurately as more elaborate batteries of tests, enabling the researchers, including Harvard Pop Center Director Lisa Berkman, to offer recommendations for more efficient biomarker collection in future allostatic…

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Review of existing racism and housing discrimination research sheds light on how racism impacts population health

Brittney Francis head shot

Harvard Bell Fellow Brittney Francis, PhD, is an author on a paper that reviews and synthesizes the population health scientific literature examining racial discrimination in housing, which is less commonly studied than segregation. Findings point to studies using survey data, as opposed to administrative data, as more likely to reveal an association between exposure to housing discrimination with negative health outcomes.

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Diagnosing dementia in rural South Africa using online consensus; cash transfers at earlier age in South Africa to support cognitive health later on; paving the way with promise for genomic studies on cognition in Africa

HAALSI men and women

Three studies by HAALSI researchers based on a rapidly aging population in rural South Africa are contributing to the much-needed scientific literature on global cognitive aging. A study published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring found that a multidisciplinary, web-based consensus conference approach for diagnosing cognitive impairment and dementia in rural South Africa was feasible, and identified the key factors responsible for diagnostic variability among raters. In…

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HAALSI study finds improvement in hypertension control in aging South African population

HAALSI men and women

Researchers affiliated with the Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) project have published a study on an aging population in rural South Africa in which more than half suffer from hypertension. Findings reveal that there have been improvements in addressing the condition in every phase of the treatment “cascade” (i.e., awareness, treatment and control).

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Harvard Chan School reports: “Study highlights inequalities in early childhood vaccination in India”

Arm of young child with band aids from vaccine

A study published in JAMA Open Network by Harvard Pop Center faculty member S (Subu) V Subramanian, PhD, visiting scientist Rockli Kim, and their colleagues reveals a pattern of vaccination rates among children (ages 12-23 months) in India; despite efforts to achieve increased vaccination rates nationally, the number of children in certain regions and states in India who did not receive routine vaccinations (first dose of the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine)…

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Study on optimism and longevity in women led by GSA Hayami Koga receives high Altmetric score for being cited & shared digitally

Altmetric score of 1717

A study led by our graduate student affiliate Hayami Koga (faculty member Laura Kubzansky is also an author) received the highest Altmetric score (1717) for being the most cited, shared, and “talked about” article in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society in 2022. The study, which was profiled in The Harvard Gazette, found that women across racial and ethnic groups who reported having a positive outlook, were more likely…

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What were the longer-term impacts for older workers who experienced a work disruption at the start of the pandemic?

Head shots of Leah Abrams and Lindsay Kobayashi

Our recent Sloan Fellow on Aging and Work Leah Abrams, along with our former Bell Fellow Lindsay Kobayashi, and their colleague Jessica Finlay, have published their findings in Innovation in Aging, reporting on the economic and mental ramifications six months after the layoffs, furloughs, and reduced hours many workers experienced in early spring 2020. Here’s a findings snapshot: of those who lost their job, 1/3 were still out of work…

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