Harvard Pop Center Social Demography Seminar: A demographic perspective on energy transitions: Linkages between population, land use, and economic dynamics in Malawi
Kate Beach, PhD, David E. Bell Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, presents “A demographic perspective on energy transitions: Linkages between population, land use, and economic dynamics in Malawi.”
The Social Demography Seminar (SDS) series at the Center for Population and Development Studies provides a lively forum for scholars from across the university to discuss in-progress social scientific and population research. Social demography includes work that uses demographic methods to describe and explain the distribution of social goods across populations. The hybrid series offers presentations on a wide variety of topics such as family, gender, race/ethnicity, population health—including mortality, morbidity, and functional health—inequality, immigration, fertility, and the institutional arrangements that shape and respond to population processes.
With the aim of disseminating scholarly research, The Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies hosts a diverse array of speakers. They do not represent or speak for the Center, the School or the University, and hosting them does not imply endorsement of their views, organizations, or employers.
Speaker Information
Kate Beach, PhD
Organizers
Brown Bag Seminar: Threading policy and practice: Lessons from a primary healthcare project to address hepatitis in Vietnam and the Philippines
The STITCH project (Strengthening the Integrated Treatment and Care for Hepatitis) is a multi-country initiative to co-design, test, and scale a people-centered model of care for hepatitis B and C at the primary care level. In its fourth year, STITCH is beginning to influence national policies and programs, reflecting how pathways for translation and the perspectives of people with lived experience were built in from the start. This session will share emerging lessons on designing participatory and implementation research for sustained policy impact.
Bethany Holt is a global health practitioner currently serving as the Director of Health Systems Transformation and Partnerships at Harvard Medical School’s Program in Global Primary Health Care. In this role, she coordinates global research, education, advocacy and innovation initiatives to advance people-centered primary health care. Her portfolio includes co-leading the Lancet Global Health Commission on People-Centered Care and partnering with governments and communities to co-design and scale innovative care models, such as hepatitis services in Vietnam and the Philippines and community-based prevention of chronic illness in Thailand. She also leads the Program’s Scholar engagement and is passionate about engaging and mentoring students and trainees from diverse disciplines in community engagement and global health delivery.
Bethany brings a multi-disciplinary perspective gained over 10 years of work in the health and social impact sectors in the US, Australia and the Asia-Pacific. She applies knowledge and tools gained through experience as a physician, public health researcher, strategy consultant, and philanthropic development partner. Prior to her medical degree, for which she earned First Class Honours and the University Medal, Bethany studied international relations and economics. She graduated with an MPH in global health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, which she attended on Fulbright Scholarship, and subsequently completed a post-doctoral fellowship with the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Her academic focus is on health systems strengthening through implementation science, community partnership, and participatory methods.
Speaker Information
Bethany Holt
Organizers
Brown Bag Seminar: Menstrual cycle characteristics as a window into whole body health
Shruthi Mahalingaiah is Mark and Catherine Winkler Associate Professor of Environmental Reproductive and Women’s Health in the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is also a physician in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Massachusetts General Hospital. Mahalingaiah’s research explores how environmental and modifiable risk factors influence reproductive health and gynecological diseases. Her work focuses on the impact of air pollution, environmental toxicants, and diverse cohort studies on conditions like PCOS, ovulatory disorders, and placental diseases across the reproductive lifespan.
Speaker Information
Organizers
Climate change: Seeking bipartisan solutions in turbulent times
Climate change poses an enormous threat to people worldwide. How can we most effectively address it? This program brings together Gina McCarthy, who led the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Obama, and former Republican Congressman Bob Inglis for a dynamic conversation. They will discuss the merits of regulatory and free market solutions and explore opportunities to work across political divides. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to discover hopeful, pragmatic approaches to today’s most pressing environmental issues.
Register for free to submit your questions.
An on-demand video will be posted after the event.
Speakers
Bob Inglis
Gina McCarthy
Moderator
About The Studio
Related Events
Breast Cancer Genome-Wide Association Studies: The End of the Beginning?
Join us on Wednesday, November 5 for the Epidemiology Seminar Series, featuring Dr. Peter Kraft discussing Breast Cancer Genome-Wide Association Studies: The End of the Beginning?
Abstract: Breast cancer clusters in families, but rare, high risk pathogenic variants in known genes like BRCA1 and BRCA2 explain only a small proportion of this familial aggregation. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified over 150 independent common variants associated with breast cancer incidence, but more risk variants remain to be found, in part because of the limited diversity of published GWAS. I describe the Confluence Project (https://confluence.cancer.gov/), a collaboration among multiple international consortia to conduct a breast cancer GWAS in over 450,000 cases and 1,300,000 controls, approximately tripling the overall sample size of the largest breast cancer GWAS to date and quadrupling the sample size in previously undersampled genetic ancestry groups. I discuss governance, computing, and analytic issues raised by such large and diverse data, including approaches to conducting multi-ancestry GWAS and fine-mapping analyses. I also discuss the opportunities provided by integrating well-powered GWAS with emerging experimental genomic annotations and multimodal pathological characterization of tumors. Separately, I provide an update on the Connect for Cancer Prevention Cohort (https://www.cancer.gov/connect-prevention-study/) and its plans for broad data sharing.
Bio: Dr. Kraft is the Director of the Trans-Divisional Research Program in the NCI’s intramural Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. He provides strategic leadership to transdisciplinary research teams across the Division, helping identify and shape new research opportunities and oversees data platforms and tools that enable collaboration. Dr. Kraft’s research focuses on devising and applying statistical techniques to large-scale observational studies of genetic and circulating biomarkers, with particular emphasis on studies understanding the joint contribution of germline DNA variation, environmental exposures and biomarkers to risk of complex disease. He has contributed to multiple international consortia studying genetics and other exposures in relation to cancer risk over the last twenty years. Prior to joining DCEG, Dr. Kraft was Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health from 2003-2023. He remains an Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at the Harvard Chan School.
Speaker Information
Peter Kraft, PhD
Organizers
Brown Bag Seminar: Sharing experiences and discussing the future of Fukushima in radiation education at Fukushima Medical University
Isamu Amir is a research fellow in the Takemi Program in International Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an assistant professor in the department of radiation health management at Fukushima Medical University (FMU) School of Medicine. Amir obtained his PhD from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2018, where he specialized in translation studies in linguistics and science communication. He has worked with the Consulate General of Japan in Boston, University of Tokyo, and Ministry of the Environment (MOE). He is dedicated to addressing discrimination, prejudice, and unfounded rumors about the health effects of radiation exposure derived from the Fukushima nuclear accident.
Speaker Information
Isamu Amir
Organizers
Student Meet and Greet with the Initiative on Health and Homelessness
✨ Come meet the Initiative on Health and Homelessness at Harvard Chan! ✨
Join us for an engaging meet-and-greet with the Initiative on Health and Homelessness (IHH), a collaborative hub bringing together research, practice, and policy to address one of today’s most pressing public health challenges. This is your chance to learn about our work, connect with our Steering Committee, faculty, staff, and partners, and discover opportunities to get involved.
You’ll also meet the Chan Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH), our dynamic student group leading advocacy, action, and awareness-building efforts across campus. Whether you’re interested in research, policy, service, or community engagement, there are many ways to contribute and make an impact.
✨ Don’t miss this chance to expand your network, explore meaningful opportunities, and help advance solutions to homelessness.
🍴 Lunch will be provided!
Organizers
Embodied Trauma Care: 23 years of breaking new ground and expanding access
Location: Epi Library (Kresge 907)
Dave Emerson originated trauma sensitive yoga in 2002 and has been training and facilitating internationally since. In 2018, Dave co-founded the Center for Trauma and Embodiment to continue the work with yoga but also to be able to collaborate with others interested in advancing embodied trauma care through weight lifting, theater, physical therapy and an approach to mindful eating. In this presentation, Dave will share what he and his colleagues have learned about the potential for an embodied approach to trauma care that opens up new opportunities for healing outside of the clinical space.
Speaker Information
Dave Emerson
Protecting Young Children From the Impacts of Wildfires
Wildfire smoke is becoming an increasingly common part of childhood in many parts of the US. While we often associate wildfires with remote or forested locations, they are increasingly happening in more urban settings—such as the January 2025 fires in Los Angeles—and the smoke can travel thousands of miles, remaining highly toxic. This means that exposure to wildfire smoke is a growing concern far beyond fire zones, with implications for the health and development of young children in both the short term and throughout their lifespan.
Join us for a live discussion on how wildfire smoke affects young children, focusing on how the LA Fire HEALTH Study aims to better understand the short- and long-term health impacts of wildfires. The study addresses the need for answers in the LA community and has broader implications for many communities across the US that are increasingly dealing with wildfire smoke.
Panelists will share emerging findings from the study and how these insights can guide efforts to reduce exposure, support children and caregivers, and protect healthy development—especially for those most affected by recent wildfires.
The discussion will be led by our Chief Science Officer, Lindsey Burghardt, MD, MPH, FAAP, and will feature panelists Joseph Allen, DSc, MPH, Associate Professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Director of the Harvard Healthy Buildings Program, and Sujeet Rao, Health and Wellbeing Practice Director at the Public Exchange at the University of Southern California.
Speakers
Moderator
Joseph G. Allen
<strong>Sujeet Rao</strong>
<strong>Lindsey C. Burghardt</strong>
Organizers
The role of translational global health research in apocalyptic times with Caroline Buckee, D.Phil.
Please join the Harvard Chan NIEHS Center for Environmental Health and the Department of Environmental Health for a talk by Caroline Buckee, D.Phil., of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Buckee will discuss “The role of translational global health research in apocalyptic times.”
This event will be held in person (HSPH Bldg. 1, 1302) and via Zoom. Register here
About the speaker
Dr. Caroline Buckee joined Harvard School of Public Health in the summer of 2010 as an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, and was promoted to Professor in 2021. From 2013-2023, Dr. Buckee was the Associate Director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics. She co-founded and co-directs Crisis Ready (crisisready.io), a joint platform between Harvard’s Data Science Initiative (HDSI) and Direct Relief, to support data-driven responses to public health emergencies and disasters. Dr. Buckee co-leads the South Asia Climate and Health Research Cluster supported by Harvard’s Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability.
Dr. Buckee’s research interests span infectious disease epidemiology and ecology – with a focus on vector borne diseases including malaria and dengue – human mobility and the impact of labor migration on the spread of epidemics, and the intersection of climate risks and human health and well-being. Dr. Buckee’s group actively supports National Malaria Control Programs in the global south to improve surveillance and analytical approaches to targeting interventions. Her group has several projects focusing on the impact of gold-mining on malaria transmission and control in the Amazon region in South America. In India, Dr. Buckee’s group is working with communities to understand the impact of extreme heat on poor working women, and to develop community-led intervention research.