The Population Research Institute

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Project Summary: Population Research Institute The Population Research Institute at the Pennsylvania State University (PRI) is a vibrant, interdisciplinary center providing strategic resources to support innovative, high impact population dynamics research. PRI’s overarching aim is to advance the scientific understanding of human population dynamics and processes, with a focus on PRI’s primary research areas. First, through research on communities, neighborhoods and spatial processes, PRI is contributing to our understanding of human population distribution across neighborhoods and communities, the social processes that bring about these spatial patterns, and their consequences for the health and wellbeing of individuals, families and children. Second, PRI scholarship increases knowledge of the causes and consequences of migration and immigrant integration for health and health disparities across the life course and generations. Third, PRI researchers address how families and social networks critically mediate broader social change and social institutions and contribute to observed disparities between advantaged and marginalized groups. Research assesses the structural and social barriers that prevent families from supporting children’s health and well-being. Fourth, PRI supports research in population health with a focus on the social determinants of maternal, child and adolescent morbidity and the important interactions between biological factors and external environments on later development and health. PRI has historical strengths in these areas and benefits from its institutional environment at the Pennsylvania State University that encourages interdisciplinary population research excellence through generous financial and infrastructure support. Through innovation and investment, PRI plans for integration and cross-collaboration across its primary research areas in the next five years. PRI will accomplish this through its additional specific aims. First, PRI aims to develop new leaders in population science, particularly the emerging leaders among junior scholars. With a successful track record as an incubator of population research, PRI’s Development core will provide additional mentoring and support for junior scholars and new opportunities designed to build competitiveness for peer-reviewed external funding and increased impact of population science. Second, PRI aims to foster novel approaches and methods that will make important and cutting-edge contributions to population research through its Computational and Spatial Analysis core. Third, PRI’s Administrative core aims to increase research productivity and collaboration, reducing the barriers and burdens associated with research administration, and increasing the reach of population science.