Dear Population Science Community,
Join us for this week’s Brown Bag Seminar on Wednesday, September 18th, with Patrick Ball, Director of Research at the Human Rights Data Analysis Resource Group. Patrick’s research talk is entitled, “Digital Echoes: Using Mortality Analysis to Document, Memorialize, and Prosecute War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, and Genocide.” See the full event details here. See our events calendar for our fall semester schedule as well as updates. The latest video recordings are available on the Berkeley Population Sciences YouTube Channel here.
You are invited to submit an abstract for presentation at the 2025 Workshop on Determinants of Adult Mortality, Morbidity, and Healthy Aging in LMICs. The workshop will be held virtually on Friday, March 7, 2025. Please find further information on the workshop in the attached call. One page abstracts should be submitted by November 1, 2024 to ceda@berkeley.edu. This workshop is jointly sponsored by the NIA-supported Center on the Economics and Demography of Aging at UC Berkeley and the Center on Biodemography and Population Health at USC.
Many congratulations to BPC Affiliate Anu Manchikanti Gómez, along with her co-Investigators Brittany Chambers of UC Davis, Deb Karasek of Oregon Health and Science University, and Iheoma Iruka of UNC Chapel Hill, for their newly-awarded R01 grant from NICHD. This 5-year grant will partially support the evaluation of the California Abundant Birth Project (CA-ABP), one of the first guaranteed income programs for pregnant people in the United States. The goal of the CA-ABP Evaluation is to use a rigorous, mixed-methods, community-based participatory research approach to determine whether providing guaranteed income to Black pregnant people can advance perinatal health equity through the reduction of adverse pregnancy outcomes and stress, and improvements in maternal mental health and infant development.
In addition, Anu is the recent recipient of the Society of Family Planning Beacon of Science Award in recognition of marked, visionary contributions towards just and equitable abortion and contraception informed by science. Congratulations, Anu, for excellent work!
See further announcements and opportunities below.
EVENTS
September 17 | 12:10-1pm | UC Berkeley School of Public Health | Latest in Public Health Research Series | co-sponsored with the Berkeley Center for Social Medicine | “The Transformation of Medical Debt Collection and the Financialization of Health Care Delivery,” with Luke M. Messac, MD, PhD; Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Harvard Medical School. Full event details. Pre-register for the talk with this link here.
September 17 | 2-3:30pm | UC Berkeley Sociology | Social Science Matrix | Berkeley Institute of Data Science (BIDS) | Computational Research for Equity in the Legal System (CRELS) | Jacob William Faber, Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Service in New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, with a joint appointment in NYU’s Sociology Department. “Exploring the Roles of Segregation by Location and Lender on Racial Inequality Mortgage Access.” 820 Social Sciences Building. The full event details are linked here. Register to Attend.
September 18 | 12:10-1pm | UC Berkeley Demography Colloquium | Patrick Ball, Director of Research at the Human Rights Data Analysis Resource Group. Patrick’s research talk is entitled, “Digital Echoes: Using Mortality Analysis to Document, Memorialize, and Prosecute War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, and Genocide.” This is an in-person talk, 310 Social Sciences Building. See the full event details here. See our events calendar for our fall semester schedule as well as updates. Visit our Brown Bag event page for both past and upcoming talks here. Zoom Meeting ID: 985 2901 0198 Password: DEMOG_BB
WEBINAR
Please join us for the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS)/National Study of Caregiving (NSOC) 2024-2025 Webinar Series. Webinars will be held monthly from 12-1 PM (ET) on Fridays via Zoom starting Friday, October 4. Register to receive reminders and login information and view the 2024 fall schedule here.
FUNDERS
The Research Centers Collaborative Network (RCCN) is requesting letters of interest for their Seed Pilots for Aging Research Collaboration (SPARC) program. The RCCN’s goal is to bring together researchers from the 7 NIA Centers programs to foster the development of cross-center collaborations around issues important to the health and well-being of older adults. The program provides funding to catalyze enduring collaborations for at least two collaborative pilot, planning or meeting grants supporting interdisciplinary research in cross cutting theme areas per grant cycle. Learn more and submit your letter of interest by October 1, 2024.
The Pipeline Grants Competition for early-career researchers is a collaboration between Russell Sage Foundation and the Economic Mobility and Opportunity program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The program supports early-career scholars who are underrepresented in the social sciences and/or who are employed at under-resourced institutions, promoting racial, ethnic, gender, disciplinary, institutional, and geographic diversity. Only researchers who have not previously received a trustee or presidential research grant or fellowship from RSF will be eligible to apply. The proposal deadline for the sixth annual competition is 2 PM EST on October 22, 2024, for funding starting in Summer 2025. The Pipeline Grants Competition RFP is being updated and will be posted by August 1, 2024. Current eligibility and program guidelines are available here.
RSF program staff will host a webinar discussing the Pipeline Grants Competition and the application process on October 1, 2024. Register for the webinar here.
New Behavioral and Social Science Funding Opportunities from NIA and NIH
1. RFA-AG-25-031. Small Research Grant Program for the Next Generation of Researchers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) for Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and AD-Related Dementias (ADRD) Research (R03 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Application due date is Thursday, November 7, 2024.
2. RFA-AG-25-025 Short Courses Promoting Cross-National Analyses Using Data from the International Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) (R25 Clinical Trial Not Allowed). Application due date is Friday, November 1, 2024. (Updated deadline.)
3. RFA-AG-25-029 Short Courses on Utilizing the NIH Stage Model to Develop Behavioral Interventions to Promote Healthy Aging (R25 – Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed). The purpose of this NOFO is to invite applications that propose the creation of short courses on utilizing the NIH Stage Model to develop behavioral interventions to promote healthy aging and prevent illness, improve care, foster disease management, assist with end of life decision-making and care, and support the needs of the growing older adult population.
NIH Updated Definition of Sexual and Gender Minority Populations
The Sexual & Gender Minority Research Office within NIH has released the following update to its definition of sexual and gender minority populations: “Variations in sex characteristics” (VSC) is a term more commonly used by people with intersex traits and/or who identify as intersex. This has supplanted the term “differences of sex development” (DSD) which is a term coined by and primarily used by health professionals in a medical context. Health researchers and community advocates support the use of VSC instead of DSD. Thus, to better reflect current lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and other SGM (LGBTQI+)-related terminology, the NIH definition of SGM populations for research is revised with this notice to read as follows:
Sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations include, but are not limited to, individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, transgender, non-binary, Two-Spirit, queer, and/or intersex. Individuals with same-sex or same-gender attractions or behaviors and those with a variation in sex characteristics are also included. These populations may also encompass those who do not self-identify with one of these terms but whose sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or biological traits are characterized by non-binary constructs of sexual orientation, gender, and/or sex. NIH wants to make clear that this change in definition is intended to enhance inclusivity and does not exclude any person or population included under previous definitions of SGM populations for NIH.
OPPORTUNITIES
Global Health Equity Scholars Program – Call for Applications
The call for applications for the 2025-2026 cycle of the Global Health Equity Scholars (GHES) fellowship program is now open. The application deadline is October 1, 2024. Please note that we moved up the application deadline by one month (it was early November in the past). The application and additional program details are available on the GHES website. The fellowship year begins August – September 2025 and lasts through 12 months. We accept applications for US postdocs (doctorate degree by June 2025) and US doctorate students. We also accept applications from LMIC postdocs.
The GHES is a global health research training program sponsored by the National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center. GHES provides mentored research fellowships at collaborating institutions in 17 low-or middle-income countries (LMICs). U.S. postdoctoral trainees from any institution (priority group), U.S. students enrolled in a doctorate or professional degree program, and LMIC postdoctoral trainees who are residents of the 17 collaborating LMICs are eligible to apply. This is an ideal fellowship for individuals interested in incorporating global health research in their careers. Research topic areas include but are not limited to HIV/AIDS (priority) infectious diseases, climate change, non-communicable diseases, trauma/injury, mental health, social and behavioral health, and environmental health. The UC Berkeley training sites and mentors are:
– Tanzania (Health for a Prosperous Nation, Sandi McCoy)
– Ecuador (Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Jay Graham, Josefina Coloma)
– Nicaragua ( Sustainable Science Institute, Eva Harris)
– India (Sri Ramachandra Institute for Higher Education and Research, Ajay Pillarisetti)
– Bangladesh (International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, icddrb, Layla Kwong).
All interested applicants should contact the program manager Maria Hernandez (mt_hernandez@berkeley.edu) to confirm eligibility and review the application components.