Michelle Poulin

@michellepoulin.bsky.social

Sociologist and Demographer. Executive Director of the Berkeley Population Center. I study family, gender, fertility, economics, mostly in Africa.

Join our next Brownbag this Wednesday, 4/16 at noon, to hear Magali Barbieri (UC Researcher in Demography at UC Berkeley) present her project, “Multi-morbidity and the US Disadvantage in Life Expectancy.” Attend in-person at 310 Social Sciences or via Zoom (ID: 985 2901 0198 Passcode: DEMOG_BB).

Bild

Surreal read of the day: a paper using USAID-funded and now terminated Demographic & Health Surveys to count the huge number of lives saved by the now frozen US PEPFAR program to fight HIV, co-authored by current US admin’s nominee to lead cuts in health research jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

HIV Development Assistance and Adult Mortality in Africa

To determine the effects of the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Bendavid and coauthors conducted analyses of adult mortality using person-level data from the Demographic and He...

jamanetwork.com

Our two papers on abortion bans and fertility/infant mortality are now out. In 14 states w/ abortion bans, fertility increased 1.7% and infant mortality increased 6%. Key takeaway is that these impacts were disproportionately felt among those w/ greatest structural disadvantages. Links below.

JAMA@jama.com · 2y ago

🧵 US states that implemented abortion bans saw higher than expected infant mortality rates, with larger increases among Black infants and those in southern states, according to this analysis of US national vital statistics data from 2012–2023. ja.ma/4aVchPn #MedSky

Figure 1.  Trends in Biannual US Infant Mortality Rates, 2012-2023

Research universities are often the largest employers in their region. They are often the primary health care providers to communities. This funding shift will not only reduce US research leadership, it will put working people out of work and reduce healthcare access.

Alondra Nelson@alondra.bsky.social · 2y ago

Excellent 🧵 on this evening's NIH announcement of a dramatic reduction in indirect rates for research institutions, which amounts to a generational restructuring of the US research and development ecosystem. These cuts are effective immediately, not just for new grants but for existing ones.

For every $100 million of funding, NIH-supported research generates 76 patents. These patents create opportunities for an estimated $598 million in further research and development.