A closer look at the effects of unconditional cash transfers in LMICs

A review of 21 studies in Africa, the Americas and South-East Asia finds that although unconditional cash transfers may not have a large impact on the use of health services by children and adults in LMICs, they appear to have a positive impact on some health outcomes, the chances of attending school, and healthcare expenses.

Novel use of genetic variants may shed light on link between education level & dementia in older age

A study published in the journal Annals of Epidemiology by Harvard Pop Center affiliated researchers including Ichiro Kawachi, Sze Yan Liu, and Maria Glymour introduces the use of genetic variants as instruments to help identify the causal effect of educational attainment on dementia risk. The study, based on instrumental variable (IV) analyses, suggests education is protective against risk of dementia in older adulthood.

Do racial disparities in cognitive outcomes in US adults vary by state of primary school attendance?

Harvard Pop Center Principal Analyst Sze Yan (Sam) Liu is lead author on a paper in Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society that explores whether variability in cognitive outcomes in adults is attributable to state of school attendance, especially during formative years of primary school. Pop Center faculty member Maria Glymour, PhD, is also an author on the paper.

When humanitarian disasters strike, do unconditional cash transfers improve use of health services & health outcomes?

Sze Yan (Sam) Liu, PhD, Harvard Pop Center principal analyst in the Research Core, is an author on a paper published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews that evaluates the impact of unconditional cash transfers (UCTs), a form of humanitarian assistance during disasters, on the use of healthcare services and health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).