Our faculty join the PSTC for numerous reasons and chief among them is the interdisciplinary environment we foster and the resources and services we provide to ensure excellent population sciences research is conducted at Brown. Hear from our faculty why they affiliated and how their membership amelioriates their impact in the social sciences.
“Colleagues at PSTC (Michael White, Daniel Smith) encouraged me to apply for NSF funding for my current study on international adoption in Spain, and the incredibly competent staff (Kelley Smith, Priscilla Terry, Thomas Alarie) got my application into shape. Then in the bureaucratic window between being approved for NSF funding and actually receiving it, PSTC stepped in and provided me with summer research money in 2010 so I could keep moving on my project. Also, current PSTC trainee, Kristin Skrabut, has been invaluable as a research assistant.”
— Jessaca Leinaweaver, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and PSTC Associate
“Every aspect of my research has benefited from my PSTC affiliation. For my project on children and the federal nutritional safety net, I received a grant and needed to set up some complex data in very short order. In-house programming assistance from Ying Liu has allowed me to get up and running on the project much more quickly than would otherwise be possible. Simultaneously, the PSTC provides computing space for my research assistant on the project, and PSTC grants management staff have given me a tremendous amount of help in navigating the complicated process of submitting a federal grant. All of this support, on top of the day-to-day intellectual benefits of being part of a structured community of like-minded scholars, has afforded me the opportunity to be get my work done and to enjoy it in the process. I could not have done many aspects of my work without this support!”
— Margot Jackson, Assistant Professor of Sociology and PSTC Associate
“Before I arrived at Brown to join the Public Health Program in 2010, I had already been introduced to Michael White, who in turn introduced me to a number of collaborators with shared interests in reproductive health. With his help initially, and the sustained support of Andrew Foster, I have been able to work closely with Susan Short, Anna Aizer, John Logan, and others. PSTC has supported the identification and development of data resources of shared interest in population research and public health, and we received direct assistance from a PSTC programmer in the preparation of the data for analysis. PSTC has been extremely helpful in allowing me to integrate into the research community at Brown and helped to shape my research agenda in productive directions.”
— David Savitz, Professor of Epidemiology and Obstetrics & Gynecology and PSTC Associate
“Our project in Mali has benefited from the full range of support that the PSTC offers. PSTC funds have contributed substantially to our budget and made our first survey round possible. The PSTC is also currently supporting a graduate student, Samuel Brown (NICHD trainee), who is working with us on the project. Most importantly, PSTC funds allowed him to travel to Mali with us, something that would not have been possible otherwise. PSTC events have also brought my co-authors and me together with researchers in related disciplines, and we have started meeting regularly with Omar Galárraga, Assistant Professor of Health Services Policy & Practice and PSTC Associate, and Ira Wilson to discuss our current work and possibilities for future collaboration. Last but not least PSTC staff have assisted us with grant writing and helped us solve some tricky data base problems.”
— Anja Sautmann, Assistant Professor of Economics and PSTC Associate