Research Projects by PI

Project PI: Lisa Berkman, PhD, Thomas Cabot Professor of Public Policy, Epidemiology, and Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Director, Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies
Funding: National Institute on Aging
Summary: Using HAALSI data, this study will determine how cumulative, randomized, and quasi-randomized socioeconomic exposures in mid-to-later-life affect memory decline and ADRD risk in later-life, by linking three unique population data sources in South Africa that cover a 22-year period (2000 to 2021). These contributions will provide robust evidence on ADRD etiology and will serve as sentinel findings for prevention strategies not only in sub-Saharan Africa, where there is currently little data outside of this study, but also for guiding interventions in ADRD prevention programs globally.

Project PIs: Lisa Berkman, PhD, Thomas Cabot Professor of Public Policy and Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Director, Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, and Thomas Gaziano, associate professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School
Funder: National Institute on Aging
Summary: The goal of this longitudinal research project is to study the drivers and consequences of HIV and non-communicable diseases (including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cognitive impairments) in an aging population in South Africa.

Project PI: Lisa Berkman, PhD, Thomas Cabot Professor of Public Policy, Epidemiology, and Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; and Director, Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies
Funder: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Summary: The aim of this project is to develop a new vision of the work-health equation by first, expanding the view of health to include a multi-faceted perspective on “well-being” and “resilience,” and second, by broadening the health-promoting strategies considered by employers and policymakers to include a work redesign approach. The research itself will involve conducting a systematic review of publications on workplace interventions and their effects on worker well-being using transdisciplinary methods. Qualitative interviews with employers, employees, and employee-advocacy groups will be conducted to gather information on effective strategies and practices. At the conclusion of the project, a website will be launched to highlight important findings and a toolkit with recommendations and guidance will be devised.

Project PIs: S (Subu) V Subramanian, PhD, and Rockli Kim, ScD
Funder: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Summary: Data on population health and development are generally collected and monitored for administrative areas: in the U.S., it is by county or town, and in India, it is by district. These districts (aka administrative areas) do not necessarily coincide with the areas represented by the politicians designing government programs and making decisions about government spending. By using state-of-the-art geospatial and statistical methodologies, researchers in this project will triangulate various sources of population health and development data geocoded to multiple micro and macro public policy units, namely Gram Panchayat (GP), Assembly Constituency (AC) and Parliamentary Constituency (PC), and make robust predictions at each level. These findings will be widely disseminated to various stakeholders via intelligent public data and analytics platform with the goal of informing precision public policy, public financing, and governance in India related to population health and development. **This project is connected to the research taking place at the Geographic Insights Lab.