The PSTC has selected this year’s Population Research Seed Award recipients. We received many strong proposals this year and are pleased to fund eight projects that advance demographic research across Economics, Anthropology, Sociology, and Public Health. Congratulations to the following awardees!

Courtney Boen: "Immigration Enforcement Shocks and Population Patterns of Birth Outcomes: Estimating the causal impacts of the recent enforcement boom in the U.S." 

This project examines how the unprecedented surge in U.S. immigration enforcement between 2023 and 2025 has impacted population health and birth outcomes. Using a quasi-experimental design, Boen and her co-investigator Emily Rauscher will measure exposure to enforcement shocks and analyze their effects on racial-ethnic and nativity-based disparities in birth outcomes. The findings are intended to inform policy efforts aimed at mitigating the health harms of enforcement and reducing disparities in birth outcomes, in particular.

Kim Fernandes: "Neurotech Futures: Disability, Health and Ethics in the U.S. and Canada.” 

This study explores how rapidly advancing neurotechnologies, originally designed for medical use but increasingly adapted for more general audiences and commercial purposes, are shifting definitions of population health and ethics. By drawing on scholarship from anthropology and critical data studies, the project investigates how these technologies are imagined and socially embedded in the U.S. and Canada. Through interviews and participant observation, Fernandes and their collaborators, Dr. Jordan Brensinger and Dr. Karina Vold from the University of Toronto, will examine the ethical implications of using disability as a testing ground for broader commercial brain-interface technologies.

Elizabeth Fussell: "Promoting Success of the Puerto Rico Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PR-PSID)." 

This project supports the baseline wave of the first population-representative panel study in Puerto Rico, which tracks demographic dynamics like migration, aging, and economic determinants of poverty. The current phase focuses on training interviewers and conducting observational visits to ensure the successful collection of data following federal funding delays. The study aims to become a major scientific resource for social scientists. Its comparability to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics opens possibilities for inclusive research on the U.S. population, including the largest U.S. territory.

Aditya Khanna: "Economic and Population Health Impacts of Federal Changes to Childhood Immunization: Brown University's Scientific Contribution to a National Response Coalition." 

This project estimates the public health and economic costs of recent changes to the U.S. childhood immunization schedule, specifically focusing on measles (MMR) and pertussis (DTaP) vaccines. Khanna and co-investigator Omar Galárraga will develop a decision-tree modeling platform to project how shifts in clinical decision-making may alter vaccination coverage and infection rates. These deliverables will provide policy-guiding recommendations for national vaccine strategies and position the team for long-term contributions to child immunization policy.

Jennifer Candipan: “The Changing Neighborhood-School Link and its Consequences for Community Wellbeing.” 

This research investigates the "neighborhood-school gap," where the demographic composition of a local school no longer reflects its surrounding neighborhood due to school choice and demographic shifts. Candipan and her team, including PSTC postdoctoral fellow Elly Field, will construct a longitudinal spatial database covering the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas from 2010 to 2024 to track this decoupling. The project ultimately aims to evaluate how these demographic mismatches impact community wellbeing and population health disparities.

Matthew Kraft: "How Heat and the Built Environment in Schools Exacerbate Educational Inequality." 

This multidisciplinary project integrates environmental data science, public health, econometric and epidemiological methods, and education policy analysis to identify how heat and pollution impact student experiences and exacerbate inequality. By partnering with schools in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Kraft and environmental epidemiologist Allan Just will document inequities in exposure and explore which facility investments, such as air conditioning, best increase resilience and reduce inequity. This pilot study will serve as a proof of concept for a national-level analysis on heat, infrastructure, and student outcomes.

John Logan: "White Ethnics' Residential Incorporation in the Early 20th Century." 

This proposal utilizes newly available data to study the residential assimilation of European immigrants in U.S. cities between 1880 and 1950. The research includes an ecological analysis of neighborhood ethnic compositions and an individual-level study of mobility patterns across decades. By applying modern segregation research methods to an earlier era, the project examines the historical experience of groups who were once not perceived as "white" or "American."

Elisa Macchi: "Symptoms as Experience Effects in Preventive Care." 

This study hypotheses that at-risk individuals in developing countries often forgo diabetes testing because they lack the "prompt" of physical symptoms. Macchi will conduct a survey experiment in Chennai, India, to test whether interventions focusing on symptom experience and "experience effects" can increase the demand for screening. The findings will distinguish between individuals who are avoidant of diagnosis and those who are simply indifferent due to a lack of immediate health cues.