# Data Science Training in Demography and Population Health

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2021 · $103,358

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology (CSDE) at the University of Washington proposes a
training program to create a new generation of population scientists and demographers equipped with skills to
conduct data intensive research with advanced computational and statistical methods. Population science
provides a crucial interdisciplinary framework for understanding the social, economic, political, and demographic
dynamics affecting patterns of disease, mortality, fertility, and migration. But to extract signal from noise in the
complex interplay of these processes the next generation requires training in state-of-the-art methods. The
program will prepare trainees to be leaders in problems involving a wide range of complex data, including data
arising from multiple sources, data not intended for research (e.g.administrative data), dynamic or spatial data,
network data, and “big data'' sources. At the core of this program is a collaboration between CSDE, the
eScience Institute (UW's data science center), and the Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences (CSSS).
These three institutes combine extensive expertise in demographic methods, data science, computer science
and statistical methods and have a long, successful record of collaboration on research and training activities,
including a BD2K track in Big Data for Demographic Research. Through this collaboration, trainees will take a
series of coursework in the following areas: advanced statistical methods and machine learning, coding,
databases, data visualization/communication, and data ethics. Trainees will also take part in team-mentoring
processes, where they develop an apprenticeship relationship with a primary mentor but also learn directly
from other faculty and trainees through collaborative projects and seminars. Mentors will come from all three
centers, along with a variety of additional departments, selected to provide the most relevant expertise,
including multiple faculty from the highly-ranked departments of Biostatistics, Statistics and Computer Science
& Engineering. Further, trainees will receive hands-on experience through rotations with on-campus and local
partners. Each trainee will do a rotation in eScience's Reproducibility and Open Science Special Interest
Group (SIG), which develops resources that facilitate reproducible research. The training program will ensure
trainees obtain the requisite theoretical and applied experience to take on whatever challenges and
complexities the data revolution next provides.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10379729
- **Project number:** 3T32HD101442-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** SARA R. CURRAN
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $103,358
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-05-01 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10379729

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10379729, Data Science Training in Demography and Population Health (3T32HD101442-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10379729. Licensed CC0.

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