Wonderful news to share: Joshua R. Goldstein, Maxine J. Elliott Professor of Demography, and Director of the Berkeley Population Center, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors a scientist can receive, recognizing “distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.” Josh is interested in combining formal mathematical models with big data to understand how populations change — how people are born, age and die — and how those processes reveal the workings of social and economic inequality. His forecasts have anticipated several of the era’s most consequential demographic turns, including the rebound of European fertility from historic lows and the surge in multi-racial identification in the U.S. census. Please join us in congratulating Josh on this remarkable honor.

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NIH is pleased to announce a Highlighted Topic on Health and Extreme Weather (HEW) effective this month. As you may know, the Highlighted Topics generally do not carry any set aside funding or special considerations for review, but they do express NIH’s interest in a particular scientific field. This Highlighted Topic, while not explicitly carrying funding, is tied to the Health and Extreme Weather initiative funded out of NIEHS.

The work of demographers and population health scientists often fits within the scope of this Topic. So it may be worth your reading the Topic and exploring the initiative’s website. NICHD has not yet signed onto this Topic, but can fund HEW research that is within the scope of the Institute’s priorities.

Title: Health and Extreme Weather: Advancing Critical Research to Address the Direct and Indirect Health Impacts of Weather-Related Natural Disasters and Emerging Weather-Related Harms.
Posted Date: May 1, 2026
Expiration Date: May 1, 2027

Looking forward to seeing many of you this week at the PAA meetings in St. Louis!