NextGenPop is a new undergraduate program in population research that aims to increase the diversity of the population field and nurture the next generation of population scientists. It is funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health (R25 HD105602, PIs Marcy Carlson and Kelly Musick).
NextGenPop Fellows will study population composition and change through the lens of pressing contemporary issues, including race and income inequalities, health disparities, immigration, and family change. The program includes a 2-week, in-person, on-campus summer experience and subsequent virtual components focused on research and professional development, as well as opportunities for mentorship and networking at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America (PAA).
The NextGenPop workshop is successively hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2022), Cornell University (2023), Duke University (2024), University of California, Irvine (2025), and University of Minnesota (2026). Sites share a common core curriculum on population perspectives, research methods, and professional development. Each site also features a signature theme that reflects their cutting-edge research and expertise. The summer 2024 theme will be Inequality and Health.
Duke University will host NexGenPop Year 3 (summer 2024) with faculty from the Duke University Population Research Institute and the Hopkins Population Center.
NextGenPop @ Duke Faculty
Tyson Brown
WLF Associate Professor of Sociology
Director of the Center on Health & Society (CHS)
Research interests: racial and social inequality, population health
Christina Gibson-Davis
Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Professor of Sociology
Research interests: social and economic differences in family formation patterns, poverty and inequality
Lisa Gennetian
Pritzker Professor of Early Learning Policy Studies in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Research interests: families and parenting, poverty and inequality, race equity
Hedy Lee
James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Sociology
Research interests: social determinants of health, health disparities, racial and social inequality, poverty, families
Scott Lynch
Professor of Sociology
Director of the Duke Center for Population Health and Aging (CPHA)
Associate Director of the Duke University Population Research Institute (DUPRI)
Research interests: social epidemiology, demography of aging, statistics
M. Giovanna Merli
Professor of Public Policy and Sociology
Director of the Duke University Population Research Institute (DUPRI)
Director of the Duke University Population Research Center (DPRC)
Research interests: demography, social networks, migration, global population health
Jay Pearson
H. M. Foundation Associate Professor of Public Policy
Associate Research Professor of Global Health
Research interests: racial and social inequality, health disparities
Marcos Rangel
Associate Professor of Public Policy
Associate Professor of Economics
Research interests: development economics, population economics, human capital, migration
Christopher Wildeman
Professor of Sociology
Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Research interests: prevalence, causes, and consequences of contact with the criminal legal system and the child welfare system for families
NextGenPop @ Johns Hopkins University Faculty
Emily M. Agree
Research Professor
Associate Director, Hopkins Population Center
Departments of Sociology and Population, Family, and Reproductive Health
Research interests: Population aging, disability, families and assistive technology
Feinian Chen
Director of the Hopkins Population Center
Professor of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University
Research Interests: Social demography, family and life course, aging, research methods and statistics, gender and inequality.
Alison Gemmill
Associate Director of the Hopkins Population Center
Assistant Professor of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Research Interests: fertility and family planning; maternal, perinatal, and reproductive health; women's health; health equity; life course; population health shocks; demography
Roland J. Thorpe
Professor & Co-Director Health, Equity, and Social Justice Program
Department of Health, Behavior, and Society
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Research interests: race, socioeconomic status, residential segregation and health, especially among African-American men.
NextGenPop @ Duke Staff
Mark Yacoub
Director of Computational Resources in the Duke University Population Research Institute
PopData R Instructor
NextGenPop @ Duke Institutional Support
The Office of the Duke University Provost, the Sanford School of Public Policy and the Duke Graduate School have provided additional funds to help support NextGenPop @ Duke.
Funding for additional infrastructure support for the NextGenPop Program at Duke comes from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health (P2C HD065563).
NextGenPop @ Duke Regional Partners
North Carolina Central University College of Health and Sciences
Human Health Sciences Program at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro