Graduate Student Affiliates

PGDA study examines the role of chess performance on cognition

May 10, 2021
The Program on Global Demography of Aging at Harvard (PGDA) has launched a study examining the role of chess performance on cognitive ability. The Chess Cognition Study is led by PI David Canning. The study is currently looking for volunteers to complete a virtual interview, which includes a series of cognition tests. Participants must be at … Continue reading “PGDA study examines the role of chess performance on cognition”
First study to map child undernutrition in India by village shows greatest variation at these micro levels

April 29, 2021
A study published in PNAS by Harvard Pop Center Visiting Scientist Rockli Kim, ScD, faculty member S V Subramanian, PhD, and colleagues that utilizes “state-of-the-art data science techniques” to map and predict child undernutrition across the nearly 600,000 villages in India now provides governments at the most local level with this critical information about their … Continue reading “First study to map child undernutrition in India by village shows greatest variation at these micro levels”
Krieger et. al. call for medical journals to publish more empirical studies on racism and health

April 21, 2021
In this analysis published in Health Affairs, Nancy Krieger, professor of social epidemiology, and her colleagues take a look back at how many times the word “racism” appears in a search of scientific literature published over the last three decades by four of the world’s leading medical journals. The authors have also authored this piece … Continue reading “Krieger et. al. call for medical journals to publish more empirical studies on racism and health”
Geographic Insights Lab rolls out two new interactive dashboards: one for tracking NFHS data in India, the other for COVID-19 vaccination by U.S. congressional district

April 20, 2021
The National Family and Health Survey (NFHS) provides critical data on India’s health, nutrition, and population indicators. The Government of India utilizes many of these indicators to formulate policies and track its progress. The team at Geographic Insights Lab presents an interactive dashboard that systematically allows multiple stakeholders to compare 55 indicators for 300+ districts … Continue reading “Geographic Insights Lab rolls out two new interactive dashboards: one for tracking NFHS data in India, the other for COVID-19 vaccination by U.S. congressional district”
Honing messages about potential harms to health from sugary drinks

April 19, 2021
Harvard Bell Fellow Anna Grummon, PhD, is an author on this study published in Appetite that looks at which “health harms” participants (a group of over 1,000 parents in the U.S.) were most aware of, and which ones most discouraged them from buying sugary drinks. “These findings suggest health messages focused on a variety of … Continue reading “Honing messages about potential harms to health from sugary drinks”