Statement: Overall The Minnesota Population Center (MPC) is a University-wide interdisciplinary cooperative for demographic research at the University of Minnesota. The central goal of the Center is to develop and support innovative research in population dynamics and health at the University of Minnesota and around the world. The Center fosters connections among population researchers across disciplines, develops leading-edge collaborative research projects, supplies technical and administrative support for demographic research, and provides training for the next generation of interdisciplinary population researchers. MPC serves 95 faculty members and research scientists from 10 colleges and 26 departments at the University of Minnesota. As a leading developer and disseminator of demographic data, we also serve a broader audience of over 100,000 researchers worldwide. The Center has five primary research areas directly relevant to the NICHD Population Dynamics Branch mission statement: (1) population data science; (2) population health and health systems; (3) population mobility and spatial demography; (4) reproductive and sexual health; and (5) work, family, and time. To promote increased research in these and other areas of population dynamics research, MPC has five major goals: (1) Provide administrative support that maximizes the productivity of MPC researchers. (2) Provide scientific and technical support for MPC research. (3) Support early-career investigators as they develop independent research trajectories. (4) Foster new interdisciplinary collaborations in the five primary research areas. (5) Develop and disseminate integrated data pertaining to population and health. Measured by number and quality of publications and contributions to shared demographic infrastructure, MPC has become one of the largest and most influential population research centers in the nation. MPC members are publishing transformative research in the most visible journals of population research. Minnesota has the largest portfolio of research grants administrated by the Population Dynamics Branch, whether measured as number of major research grants (R01, U01, P01), number of Principal Investigators, or total value of awards. MPC research and investigations based on MPC-produced data are advancing fundamental knowledge about health and population dynamics. This basic infrastructure is essential for answering core questions surrounding demographic change and population health that have been identified as the central research agenda for the Population Dynamics Branch.
The proposed research infrastructure for population research is directly relevant to the central mission of the National Institutes of Health as the steward of medical and behavioral research for the nation. Minnesota Population Center (MPC) research will advance fundamental knowledge about the nature of human population dynamics and will specifically address key priorities of the Population Dynamics Branch of NICHD. In particular, MPC will produce innovative research and data in the areas of demography (population growth and movement, fertility, mortality, nuptiality, and family demography), reproductive health (sexual risk behavior, disease transmission, and health outcomes in pregnancy and childbirth), and population health (health disparities, health care, and health environments).
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