Children’s health problems prevent families from moving out of high- to low-poverty neighborhoods

Harvard Pop Center researchers, including visiting scientist and former fellow Mariana Arcaya and faculty members SV Subramanian, and Mary C. Waters are authors on a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology that found that when families were given an option to move out of a high-poverty neighborhood and move to a low-poverty neighborhood, those families with a sick child were less likely to take advantage of the opportunity…

How did Hurricane Katrina affect short & long-term happiness of survivors?

Former Harvard Pop Center Bell Fellow Rocio Calvo Vilches, PhD,  Pop Center faculty member Mary Waters, PhD,  and Pop Center Yerby Fellow Mariana Arcaya, ScD, co-authored a study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies titled Happily Ever After? Pre-and-Post Disaster Determinants of Happiness Among Survivors of Hurricane Katrina. The study, which compared survivors’ happiness levels pre-disaster to one and four years post-disaster, has received international media attention on fastcoexist.com,…

Can genes play a role in how we react to traumatic events?

Harvard Pop Center affiliated faculty member Mary Waters, PhD, has co-authored a novel study that explores the interaction between genetic variants and exposure to Hurricane Katrina on post-traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth (positive psychological changes that can come from experiencing and processing a disaster and its aftermath).

Videos of Speaker Presentations at 50th Anniversary Symposium

In honor of its 50th anniversary, the Harvard Pop Center recently held a symposium titled Reimagining Societies in the Face of Demographic Change that featured presentations by Julio Frenk, Lisa Berkman, Babatunde Osotimehin, Jack Rowe, and Sir Michael Marmot, as well as a panel discussion including Pop Center Associate Director David Canning and faculty members Amitabh Chandra, SV Subramanian (Subu), and Mary Waters. Video recordings of these presentations and discussions are…

Harvard Pop Center researchers investigate effect of urban sprawl on body mass index among displaced Hurricane Katrina survivors

Three Harvard Pop Center-affiliated researchers, Yerby Fellow Mariana Arcaya, ScD, and faculty members Mary C. Waters, PhD,  and S.V. Subramanian, PhD, have provided the first natural experimental data on urban sprawl and body mass index (BMI). Their research results suggest that built environment may foster changes in weight.

Post-Katrina Happiness

Mary Waters, PhD, M.E. Zukerman Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Harvard University, and Pop Center Yerby Fellow Mariana Arcaya, ScD, are co-authors on a study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies titled “Happily Ever After? Pre-and-Post Disaster Determinants of Happiness Among Survivors of Hurricane Katrina.”