The Hopkins Population Center

Overall Abstract The Hopkins Population Center (HPC) is a university-wide center providing research infrastructure for demography, reproductive health, and population health research at Johns Hopkins University (JHU). The Center has 62 faculty Associates from 7 JHU schools (16 departments). Tapping into Associates’ leading expertise in social, public health, biomedical, engineering, and statistical sciences, the HPC builds on these historical strengths and facilitates emerging innovation in specific research areas of population dynamics research. The HPC is directed by Director, Dr. Lingxin Hao, and two Associate Directors, Drs. Emily Agree and Li Liu. The HPC has three Specific Aims. Aim 1 is to support the incubation, development, production, and dissemination of innovative research in three primary research areas (PRAs) – Poverty and Inequality, Sexual and Reproductive Health, and Family, Maternal and Child Health. The HPC supports the whole spectrum of innovative research in the PRAs through the Development, Scientific, and Administrative Cores. The Development Core identifies new ideas from Associates, assembles new teams among HPC Associates between academic ranks and across disciplines, and provides research development support via a set of programs. The Development Core ensures internal cohesiveness through the bridging role of PRA representatives, who are high-profile senior Associates and open up communication channels between Associates and Core leaders. The Scientific Core focuses its energy on increasing the research rigor and competitiveness of new and in-progress research projects. The Administrative Core works on the timely dissemination of new research findings via seminars, conferences, and symposiums. Aim 2 is to support early- career Associates (ECAs) to accelerate research independence in PRAs. We are continually recruiting ECAs to nurture their research capacity and independence in HPC’s PRAs and additional effort to meet the specific needs of underrepresented minority ECAs. Aim 3 is to grow synergy within HPC, JHU, and the broader community to promote research in population science. The HPC strengthens its centeredness within HPC among the three Cores, at JHU HPC maintains and further develops alliances with university research initiatives on common interests to promote population dynamics research, and in the broader community the HPC will establish partnerships with regional population centers and local institutions serving underrepresented minorities. The three Cores’ functioning and the synergy across them enable HPC to further its long history of outstanding contributions to population science. The P2C funding will sustain and expand the provision of cohesive infrastructural services. With the university’s substantial investment in HPC and HPC’s leveraging resources of university initiatives, the HPC endeavors to maximize the added value of the requested P2C funding.