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Announcing the winner of the 2023 Sissela Bok Ethics and Population Research Prize

Head shot of Leah Pierson

We’re thrilled to announce that Leah Pierson, PhD, has been selected from a competitive pool of applicants as the recipient of the 2023 Sissela Bok Ethics and Population Research Prize. Leah is currently a third-year medical student at Harvard Medical School, and recently completed her PhD in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research focuses on ethical issues in…

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New York Times cites research by Koga & Kubzansky on why positive mind-set is one of the most powerful of their “7 Keys to Longevity”

The 7th “Key to Longevity” (“Cultivate a positive mind-set”) in this NYT piece is laced with links to research by our postdoc fellow, Hayami Koga, and faculty member Laura Kubzansky (& their colleagues) that supports the case for why a positive mind-set is right up there with physical activity when it comes to healthy practices that are associated with longevity.

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“Overtime” makes Princeton’s short list of Noteworthy Books in 2022

Overtime Book cover with screen shot of Princeton's list of noteworthy books in 2022

“Overtime: America’s Aging Workforce and the Future of Working Longer,” a volume co-edited by HCPDS Director Lisa Berkman and former Sloan Fellow on Aging and Work Beth C. Truesdale featuring 30 contributing interdisciplinary researchers has been named one of 11 Noteworthy Books in 2022 by Princeton University’s Industrial Relations section in the area of industrial relations and labor economics.

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Nancy Krieger delivers Sedgewick Memorial Medal address at APHA’ s annual meeting

HCPDS faculty member Nancy Krieger was awarded the American Public Health Association’s 2023 Sedgwick Memorial Medal for her “activism and research surrounding health equity and social science.” Watch the 5-minute video of her Sedgewick Memorial Medal address at the APHA’s annual meeting, or read her speech published in the Journal of Public Health Policy.

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Study links changes in work environment with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease among most at-risk employees

Graph showing greater protection of risk for those at higher cardiometabolic risk

A reduction in stressful conditions at work has now been linked to a reduction in cardiovascular disease (CVD) among those employees who were at an elevated risk of CVD at the start of the intervention study, especially if they were older workers. Researchers affiliated with The Work, Family & Health Network Study deployed interventions at two different types of works sites (IT and long-term care) designed to increase work-life balance…

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Call for Applications: The Sissela Bok Ethics and Population Research Prize

Head shot of Sisslea Bok

We are pleased to announce that the call for applications is now open for the Sissela Bok Ethics and Population Research Prize. The $5,000 prize will be awarded to a doctoral student, postdoctoral fellow, or full-time, untenured faculty member at Harvard who has incorporated ethical considerations into his/her population science research. The deadline to apply is Friday, December 8, 2023.            

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What’s to blame for the lagging U.S life expectancy? A closer look at mid-life ‘deaths of despair’ and retirement-age chronic disease

Head shot of Leah Abrams

Recent Sloan Fellow on Aging and Work Leah Abrams, PhD, is lead author on A Brief Report published in PNAS Demography that explores what could be driving the troubling status of U.S. life expectancy which has been stagnating since 2010. Abrams and her colleagues find chronic disease at the time of retirement to be a bigger factor than the ‘deaths of despair’ (drug overdose, alcohol abuse, and suicide) that have…

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Comment: “Prosociality should be a public health priority”

Head shot of Laura Kubzansky from 2023

With poignant lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic fresh in our minds, faculty member Laura Kubzansky, PhD, corresponding author on a Comment published in Nature Human Behavior, makes a strong case for why prosociality (defined as positive other-regarding behaviors and beliefs) should be more deeply explored—with a sense of urgency—as part of an ‘asset-based’ approach to address the rising rates of hopelessness, despair, and poor mental health in the U.S.

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CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Recruiting now for interdisciplinary postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard Population Center

Collage of photos of postdoctoral fellows with Call for applications for fellowships

The Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies is now accepting applications for its postdoctoral fellowship program—the David E. Bell Fellowship for the 2024–2026 cohort. We offer competitive salaries, benefits, and research/travel funds. Deadline to apply is Thursday, November 30, 2023.