California Center for Population Research

Student Practice Talks (PAA)
2026-04-29 12:00 - 13:15 (America/Los_Angeles) | Room 4240A, 4th Floor, Public Affairs Building, 337 Charles Young Dr., LA, CA 90095
If you are presenting at PAA and would like to give a practice talk at CCPR, please complete the PAA 2026 Practice Talks form by Friday, April 3. The session will be held on Wednesday, April 29, from 12:00–1:15 PM. This will be a great opportunity to rehearse your presentation and receive feedback before the meeting.
After the form closes, we will follow up with participants regarding scheduling and additional details.

Coffee and Conversation
2026-05-04 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CCPR Break Room
Join CCPR affiliates for coffee and bagels from Noah’s Bagels, and take the opportunity to get to know one another in a casual setting.
Coffee and Conversation is held Mondays at 10:00 AM in the CCPR Break Room.
This week’s session will be hosted by UCLA Dean and Vice Provost Brian Kite who will be there to guide the conversation, share insights, and connect with attendees in an informal setting.

PAA 2026
2026-05-06 - 2026-05-09 | St. Louis, Missouri America’s Center
Please see the CCPR Affiliate PAA Schedule Here.

PAA Reception
2026-05-08 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Please RSVP here for the upcoming joint PAA Reception:

Friday, May 8, 2026 | 6:00 – 8:30 PM (Local)

Marriott St. Louis Grand | 800 Washington Ave, St. Louis, MO 63101 | Room L4

Participating Universities: University of California, Los Angeles, University of Washington, University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Brown University

Coffee and Conversation
2026-05-11 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CCPR Break Room
Join CCPR affiliates for coffee and bagels from Noah’s Bagels, and take the opportunity to get to know one another in a casual setting.
Coffee and Conversation is held Mondays at 10:00 AM in the CCPR Break Room.
This week’s session will be hosted by Professor Wei-Hsin Yu who will be there to guide the conversation, share insights, and connect with attendees in an informal setting.

Dave Kirk, University of Pennsylvania, "The Rideshare Revolution and Racial Disparities in Police Stops"
2026-05-13 12:00 - 13:15 (America/Los_Angeles) | Room 4240A, 4th Floor, Public Affairs Building, 337 Charles Young Dr., LA, CA 90095
Biography: Dave Kirk is Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Criminology and Research Associate of the Population Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago and previously served on the faculties at the University of Oxford, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Maryland. Kirk’s research agenda is primarily organized around three interrelated themes: the causes and consequences of cynicism and distrust of the police and the law, solutions to criminal recidivism, and the causes and consequences of gun violence. He is also interested in the implications of the rise of the sharing economy for crime and public safety. He currently serves as an Associate Editor of Criminology.

The Rideshare Revolution and Racial Disparities in Police Stops

Abstract: Racial disparities in police stops remain a central concern in social science research. While prior explanations emphasize differences by race in driving exposure, behavior, and vehicle characteristics as well as variation in the deployment of police and potential racial bias, one overlooked factor is the rapid expansion of ridesharing. Because ridesharing substitutes for private vehicle trips, its growth may alter the risk set of individuals exposed to discretionary traffic enforcement. This study combines administrative records of traffic stops by the Chicago Police Department, use-of-force reports, and comprehensive rideshare trip data from 2019–2024. I construct district–month panels of police stops and use of force incidents by race and estimate negative binomial models with district and month fixed effects to assess whether increases in rideshare activity are associated with differential changes in police contact across racial groups. Preliminary results suggest that increases in rideshare activity are associated with a narrowing of Black-White disparities in police stops. Use of force analyses show similar patterns. These findings suggest that rideshare expansion may narrow racial disparities in police contact and uses of force by altering the risk set of drivers exposed to traffic enforcement.

Coffee and Conversation
2026-05-18 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CCPR Break Room
Join CCPR affiliates for coffee and bagels from Noah’s Bagels, and take the opportunity to get to know one another in a casual setting.
Coffee and Conversation is held Mondays at 10:00 AM in the CCPR Break Room.
This week’s session will be hosted by Professor Onyebuchi Arah, who will be there to guide the conversation, share insights, and connect with attendees in an informal setting.

Bussarawan “Puk” Teerawichitchainan, National University of Singapore, "Aging with Limited Kin in Family-Oriented Societies"
2026-05-18 14:00 - 15:15 (America/Los_Angeles)
The Southeast Asian Studies Center (CSEAS) has invited Bussarawan “Puk” Teerawichitchainan to give a talk at UCLA on Monday, May 18. Puk is a demographer at the National University of Singapore (NUS) spending this academic year at the CASBS in Stanford:

https://casbs.stanford.edu/people/bussarawan-teerawichitchainan

Her talk will be about her project on aging in Singapore and Thailand.

Across the Asia Pacific, rapid demographic transitions and changing family structures are producing a growing number of adults aging with limited close kin. Drawing on mixed-methods evidence from Thailand and Singapore, this talk examines how childlessness and other forms of constrained kin availability shape later-life vulnerability, adaptation, and inequality in societies where aging systems continue to rely heavily on family support. Findings reveal heterogeneous pathways into kin limitation and the diverse ways older adults navigate—or struggle to adapt to—constrained kin configurations through their support networks, care arrangements, and planning strategies. These patterns are shaped by gendered life course trajectories, socioeconomic circumstances, and institutional contexts. The evidence also reveals persistent tensions between familistic norms and the lived realities of increasingly limited kin networks. The talk concludes by reflecting on what these shifts suggest about the future of aging in family-oriented contexts and the implications for promoting equitable aging as kin networks continue to shrink.
Bussarawan “Puk” Teerawichitchainan is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the National University of Singapore and served as Co-Director of the NUS Centre for Family and Population Research until December 2025. Her research examines aging, family, and the life course in Southeast Asia, including recent projects on the long-term impacts of war trauma among older Vietnamese survivors and the dynamics of childless aging in Singapore and Thailand. She is currently a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.
More Information and RSVP Link Can Be Found Here.

Coffee Chat (1-2 pm, CCPR Breakroom) RSVP Here.

Michael Lens, UCLA, "Where the Hood At? Fifty Years of Change in Black Neighborhoods"
2026-05-20 12:00 - 13:15 (America/Los_Angeles) | Room 4240A, 4th Floor, Public Affairs Building, 337 Charles Young Dr., LA, CA 90095
Biography: Michael Lens is Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy, Chair of the Luskin Undergraduate Programs, and Associate Faculty Director of the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies. Professor Lens’ research and teaching explore the potential of public policy to address housing market inequities that lead to negative outcomes for low-income families and communities of color. This research involves zoning and land use, segregation, housing subsidies, and eviction. Professor Lens regularly publishes this work in leading academic journals and his research has won awards from the Journal of the American Planning Association and Housing Policy Debate. His book Where the Hood At: Fifty Years of Change in Black Neighborhoods, was published in November 2024 by the Russell Sage Foundation. (Amazon) (Russell Sage – use promo code Lens for 20% off). In ongoing research, Professor Lens is using microdata to study housing mobility, whether and how accessory dwelling units are affecting housing costs, and how planning reforms in California are achieving fair housing outcomes.

Where the Hood At? Fifty Years of Change in Black Neighborhoods

Abstract: Substantial gaps exist between Black Americans and other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S., most glaringly Whites, across virtually all quality-of-life indicators. Despite strong evidence that neighborhood residence affects life outcomes, we lack a comprehensive picture of Black neighborhood conditions and how they have changed over time. In Where the Hood At? urban planning and public policy scholar Michael C. Lens examines the characteristics and trajectories of Black neighborhoods across the U.S. over the fifty years since the Fair Housing Act. Hip hop music was born out of Black neighborhoods in the 1970s and has evolved alongside them. In Where the Hood At? Lens uses rap’s growth and influence across the country to frame discussions about the development and conditions of Black neighborhoods. Lens finds that social and economic improvement in Black neighborhoods since the 1970s has been slow. However, how well Black neighborhoods are doing varies substantially by region. Overall, Black neighborhoods in the South are doing well and growing quickly. Black neighborhoods in the Midwest and the Rust Belt, on the other hand, are particularly disadvantaged. The welfare of Black neighborhoods is related not only to factors within neighborhoods, such as the unemployment rate, but also to characteristics of the larger metropolitan area, such as overall income inequality. Lens finds that while gentrification is increasingly prevalent, it is growing slowly, and is not as pressing an issue as public discourse would make it seem. Instead, concentrated disadvantage is by far the most common and pressing problem in Black neighborhoods.

AI Workflow in Research: Emerging Challenges and Opportunities
2026-05-27 12:00 - 13:15 (America/Los_Angeles)
Panelists: Gilbert Gee, Mark Handcock, and Ian Lundberg

Join us for a discussion of AI in research! CCPR affiliates from UCLA’s Departments of Community Health Sciences, Statistics and Data Science, and Sociology will share their perspectives on the practical, ethical, and methodological implications of integrating AI into population research. This event is open to all members of the UCLA community. We look forward to a vibrant and timely conversation.

Coffee and Conversation
2026-06-01 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CCPR Break Room
Join CCPR affiliates for coffee and bagels from Noah’s Bagels, and take the opportunity to get to know one another in a casual setting.
Coffee and Conversation is held Mondays at 10:00 AM in the CCPR Break Room.
This week’s session will be hosted by Professor Molly Fox, who will be there to guide the conversation, share insights, and connect with attendees in an informal setting.

Mare Student Lecture, Taylor Mobley, "Estimating long-term health effects of housing instability in the US using a lifecourse framework”
2026-06-03 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Room 4240A, 4th Floor, Public Affairs Building, 337 Charles Young Dr., LA, CA 90095
Biography: Taylor Mobley is a PhD candidate in the Department of Epidemiology at UCLA. His research interests lie at the intersection of housing and health, social and lifecourse epidemiology, longitudinal data analysis, and the application of causal inference methods in social epidemiology. He is a recipient of the 2025-2026 UCLA Dissertation Year Award. Work he led comparing the prevalence of functional limitations among unhoused Los Angeles County adults to that of the general adult Los Angeles population, supported by CCPR, was awarded Best Poster at the 2025 Population Association of America Life Course Poster Session. In his dissertation, Taylor examines how experiences of housing instability affect mortality and functional impairment across the lifecourse. Beginning in Summer 2026, Taylor will begin a postdoctoral fellowship in the Johns Hopkins Health and Housing Collaborative.

Estimating long-term health effects of housing instability in the US using a lifecourse framework
Abstract: The United States is confronting a housing affordability crisis, leading to pervasive housing instability, including frequent or involuntary moves and homelessness. A large body of work documents associations between housing instability and adverse physical and mental health outcomes in specific lifecourse periods. Limited work has examined its long-term health effects, including whether housing instability influences changes in later-life health and how repeated experiences of housing instability may affect health over time. My dissertation addresses these gaps in the literature by extending evidence of adverse health effects across lifecourse periods, from childhood to mid- and late-life. Across all three aims, I leverage national longitudinal cohort data and employ causal inference methods to estimate time-varying effects of involuntary residential moves on functional impairment in mid- and late-life and on mortality across the lifecourse. In this work, I find evidence of small, long-term effects of housing instability on functional impairment and mortality in mid-life, with some suggestion of diminishing effects in late-life. Although the effect estimates were modest, given the severity of the outcomes assessed, these findings underscore the importance of housing stability policies and programs in early and mid-life for long-term health and well-being.

Reception
2026-06-03 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | 4284 Reception

Summer Institute in Computational Social Science 2026
2026-06-08 - 2026-06-12 | Room 4240A, 4th Floor, Public Affairs Building, 337 Charles Young Dr., LA, CA 90095
Bringing together graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and junior faculty for 2 weeks of intensive study and interdisciplinary research
