Researchers affiliated with the Resilience in Survivors of Hurricane Katrina (RISK) project have published a paper that takes a look at the health impacts of being displaced into a gentrified neighborhood. The researchers did not find evidence of significant effects on BMI, self-rated health, or psychological distress. Photo: Ted Eytan on Flickr
Politics of caste and class go under microscope in effort to combat child poverty in India
Harvard Bell Fellow Adel Daoud, PhD, and his colleague Shailen Nandy have authored a study published in Sociology of Development that sets out to systematically analyze how politics of caste, corruption, and wealth impact child poverty in India.
Using social media and online search to better track individual alcohol use and corroborate state-level data
Elissa Weitzman, ScD, is principal investigator of a study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine that demonstrates how personally generated data — captured and tracked using such online tools as Google searches and social media outlets — mirrored more formal public health surveillance data. “Our results give confidence in our public health tools and in using novel data approaches to measure health behaviors and policy effects — a…
Postdoc pens op-ed in The New York Times: “The Myth of the Two-Parent Home”
Postdoctoral Fellow Christina Cross, PhD, shares findings in this op-ed in The New York Times from a recent study that demonstrate that access to socioeconomic resources influences the educational success of black youth more than their family structure (e.g., whether they were raised in a single-parent or two-parent household). The findings could shape improved public policies, given that there are costly welfare programs devoted to marriage promotion initiatives.
Longitudinal study of aging in South Africa offers rare glimpse of link between cognitive function and cardiometabolic disease risk factors
Researchers affiliated with Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) have published a study in BMC Public Health that shares some baseline evidence pointing to a link between cognitive function and cardiometabolic disease risk factors (e.g., diabetes, BMI, smoking) among those aging in South Africa.
Studies find evidence of systemic racial discrimination across multiple domains in the United States
Harvard Pop Center faculty member Sara Bleich and her colleagues have published two studies examining experiences of racial discrimination in the United States. One study found substantial black-white disparities in experiences of discrimination in the U.S. spanning multiple domains including health care, employment, and law enforcement, while a separate study found similar discrimination among Latinos in the United States. Given the connection between racial discrimination and poor health outcomes in…
Chronic maternal depressive symptoms linked to offspring’s reduced socio-emotional development at age 2 in rural Pakistan
A study by Harvard Pop Center faculty member Aisha K. Yousafzai, PhD, and colleagues explores the impact of chronic maternal depression, distinct from more temporary bouts of depression, on child development.
Using a machine learning approach to shed light on relationship between SES and women’s height
Even though height is commonly correlated with socioeconomic status (SES), SES is not known as a reliable predictor of height. In this study, Harvard Pop Center Bell Fellow Adel Daoud, Research Associate Rockli Kim, and faculty member S (Subu) V Subramanian utilized machine learning algorithms to assess whether there were non-linear patterns in the data that might shed more light on the relationship between height and socio-economic status.
Twelve years after Hurricane Katrina, some still suffering from post-traumatic stress
Researchers affiliated with the RISK project have published a study in Social Science & Medicine that looks at the long-term mental health consequences of Hurricane Katrina. Among the study participants—a group of low-income mothers— one in six was found to still be suffering post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and hurricane-related traumas were found to predict persistent PTSS.
Harvard Public Health magazine features findings of Harvard Pop Center researchers in ℞ for an Epidemic
The current issue (Fall 2019) of Harvard Public Health magazine features research by Jack Cordes (then a graduate student), Lyndsey Rolheiser (then a Harvard Pop Center post-doc fellow), and our faculty member Subu Subramanian that “made a splash with the media.” ℞ for an Epidemic