Pushing Forward on Population Research

Maryland Population Research Center receives $2.16 million from NIH

 

The Maryland Population Research Center (MPRC) received $2.16 million from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to further its mission to produce and promote population-related research from an interdisciplinary perspective. The award will support the MPRC for the next five years, placing it in an elite cadre of population research centers nationwide with more than two decades of activity.

"This award is testament to the cutting edge population research that UMD faculty are engaged in to address critical challenges in health, immigration, social inequalities, and many other areas, both in the US and globally," said Sangeetha Madhavan, Acting Director of MPRC.

The MPRC was initially created in 1998 as a small “niche” center in the UMD Department of Sociology. In 2002, the NICHD awarded the center its first major grant, establishing it as one of only 15 centers of its kind nationally. Today, the MPRC includes 86 faculty associates from 16 UMD departments across six colleges and schools who lead innovative projects addressing a wide range of social issues, including:

 

  • Determining how time use data can improve health and well-being;
  • Evaluating access to contraception in rural areas;
  • Creating a national data innovation center in India;
  • Studying the impact of midwifery on birth outcomes;
  • Analyzing the effects of technology on dating violence;
  • Identifying economic drivers for Latina entrepreneurs;
  • and many more.
     

“The MPRC tackles a wide-ranging set of significant questions related to the health of human populations and, through interdisciplinary research, helps to develop solutions that will improve the lives of people not only in Maryland, but across the country and around the world,” said Gregory F. Ball, Dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. “I’m thrilled the NICHD has renewed its support so that this crucial work will continue into the center’s third decade.”

This article was originally published on September 19, 2018.

 

Published on Wed, Sep 19, 2018 - 11:24AM