$409,000 NIH grant strengthens research efforts

BOWLING GREEN, O.—A new grant from the National Institutes of Health will help advance research activities of the Center for Family and Demographic Research at Bowling Green State University.

The three-year, $409,000 NIH grant will be used to extend work under way that utilizes demographic data as a component of social science research. The research will focus on high-risk populations and will include studies on immigration, health and mortality, adolescent development and family structure.

The BGSU center, founded in 2000, is one of only 18 NIH-funded population research centers in the country. The grants are intended to strengthen and support these centers.

“In just two years we’ve been able to build a viable center, one that pulls in participants from across the campus community and results in powerful collaborations,” said Center Director Dr. Wendy Manning, an associate professor of sociology. “I’m pleased that everyone’s hard work is being acknowledged with the NIH grant.”

According to Dr. Cynthia Price, director of Sponsored Programs and Research at BGSU, “Federal support for strengthening the infrastructure of this center marks a huge stride forward for BGSU both in national recognition and in the potential to attract additional funding. While establishing centers of excellence is expected to be a time-consuming institutional effort, concentrated efforts of the faculty members involved in the center have moved the center ahead at an amazing rate.”

The center focuses on research related to the health, development and security of children, adolescents and families. It is supported by six BGSU departments and involves the work of 30 faculty members. The cross-disciplinary effort has already resulted in a welfare reform conference, research collaborations and the expansion of research agendas.

“With these additional resources we’ll be able to increase the scope and impact of the center affiliates’ research,” said Dr. Laura Sanchez, associate director of the center and an associate professor of sociology. “NIH funding allows the center to further develop our research support services and initiate a faculty development award that provides seed-grant funds.”

The center, in addition to conducting original research, functions as an Ohio state census data affiliate, helping researchers and public policy makers interpret census and other data to identify trends and make informed choices for their constituents. It also provides valuable training opportunities and resources to Bowling Green graduate students, Manning noted.

Current funded research projects include investigations of: child well-being in cohabiting unions; life course transitions in older adulthood in which grandparents are raising grandchildren; non-residential fathers' socioeconomic ties to children; dating relationships and adolescent fertility-related behaviors; cross-generational influences on the development of aggression, and whether covenant marriage might reduce the number of marriages that end in divorce.

For more information about the Center for Family and Demographic Research, visit www.bgsu.edu/organizations/cfdr/main.html (Posted August 7, 2002)