Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies

May 8, 2023

Analysis streamlines measurement of physiological ‘wear and tear’

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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May 1, 2023

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

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.

April 20, 2023May 5, 2023

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

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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April 18, 2023May 2, 2023

Harvard Strong at PAA’s annual meeting, the premier conference of demographers, and social and health scientists

Collage of people at PAA 2023 presenting — Harvard Pop Center affiliates present at PAA 2023

David Bloom at podium — David Bloom accepts the Irene B. Taeuber Award at PAA 2023

Group shot of alumni and friends at reception — Reception welcoming alumni and friends of the Harvard Pop Center

April 13, 2023

The Harvard Crimson reports on Brittany Charlton’s PRX event at Harvard Pop Center

Harvard Crimson reports on Brittany Charlton PRX seminar

Harvard Pop Center welcomed our faculty member Brittany Charlton as a guest presenter at a recent Population Research Exchange—a new series that delivers timely information on population science research—and The Harvard Crimson reported on the event.

March 22, 2023

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

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).

February 24, 2023

Winter 2023 Harvard Public Health Magazine cites work by Berkman/Truesdale and Subramanian/Kim

In the current issue of Harvard Public Health Magazine, Harvard Pop Center research projects (and researchers) are getting some attention. The book “Overtime: America’s Aging Workforce and the Future of Working Longer” co-edited by HCPDS Director Lisa Berkman and Visiting Scientist Beth C. Truesdale is spotlighted in the “Bookshelf” section, and novel research by Faculty Member S (Subu) V Subramanian and Visiting Scientist Rockli Kim that mapped undernutrition across India’s…

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February 15, 2023

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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February 9, 2023

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

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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January 31, 2023

Bell Fellow A. Nicole Kreisberg talks with The Boston Globe about ways that we can solve the labor shortage problem

Research by our Bell Fellow A. Nicole Kreisberg is cited in this piece in The Boston Globe: “America is running out of working-age adults. Here’s how to solve the labor shortage.” If you can’t access the above link, here is a pdf version of the piece.