This proposal requests the next stage in NICHD support for population research at UC Berkeley. The Berkeley Population Center (BPC) capitalized on R21 developmental infrastructure funding to create an awareness of the plentiful population research being conducted on campus among faculty, including junior faculty, who have been historically isolated by academic department. This awareness (and support) led to research and grant application activity. With a foundation firmly set, BPC now seeks to leverage the core strengths of the UC Berkeley campus, beginning with the teaching and research in the Demography Department, as well as population research conducted in the School of Public Health, Graduate School of Public Policy, Dept. of Economics, and other schools and departments. Synergistic ties with several research centers on campus further promote population research on campus, notably with the Center of Economics and Demography of Aging (CEDA), Institute for the Study of Social Issues (ISSI), the Robert Wood Johnson Scholars Program, and other centers. BPC has attracted and connected with over 60 faculty members and other researchers on campus, as well as researchers in neighboring institutions such as UCSF, UC Davis and Stanford University. As a result, the thematic areas in population research emerged from the unique strengths of the UC Berkeley campus: Reproduction and HIV, Mortality, Health Disparities, Inequalities and Opportunities, Behavioral Economics, and Formal Demography. BPC research questions and methods utilized are cross-cutting and innovative. To foster our mission of population research, we propose 3 Research Infrastructure Cores. The Research Support Core consists of two subcores: (1) Administrative and (2) Data and Computing. Research Development is the third core. Implicit in all cores is public outreach. These cores will provide support for BPC affiliates by assisting with the identification of relevan grants, assistance with grant application preparation and administration, providing hardware and software for data analysis, and awarding pilot grants for projects with solid potential for externa funding.
The Berkeley Population Center exists to foster and enhance the innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration in population research. BPC's strengths are reflected in the research themes of Reproduction and HIV; Mortality; Health Disparities; Inequalities and Opportunities; Behavioral Economics; and Formal Demography. The goal of BPC research is to optimize population health at the individual and societal level.
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