Research and Training Funds

2004-2005 Working Group Competition

1. "Working Group on Media Representations of Health Problems"

Core Participants: Prof. Albert Gunther (P.I.), Ana Trigub, M.D., and Janice Liebhart, Dept. of Life Sciences Communication; Prof. Morton Ann Gernsbacher, Dept. of Psychology; Prof. Mark Albanese, Prof. David Vanness, and Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholar Richard Carpiano, Ph.D., Dept. of Population Health Sciences; and David Brown, Ph.D., Dept. of Family Medicine.

Representations of Health Problems working group focuses on three sequential elements: (1) the actual frequency and character of health problems, (2) how those problems are portrayed (and potentially misrepresented) in mass media, and (3) the consequences of such mass media portrayals for public health.

In many cases mass media depictions of public health issues may diverge dramatically from reality. Media, for example, may give disproportionate attention to some health problems, and their causes, while understating the frequency or severity of others. This media reality, in turn, is likely to have significant consequences, including influences on public perceptions of relative risks and dangers, the actions of politicians and policy makers, public research priorities, allocation of funding for research and medical care, even choice of specialties by young physicians. This working group will compile literature on these elements, identify problems and develop a research agenda. The group will also publicize its findings via electronic and traditional channels.

2. "Working Group on Transdisciplinary Studies in Health and Society"

Core Participants: Prof. Linda Hogle (P.I.), Prof. Warwick Anderson, Prof. Pilar Ossorio, and Prof. Gregg Mitman, Dept. of Medical History and Bioethics; Prof. Jonathan Patz, Institute for Environmental Studies and Dept. of Population Health Sciences; Prof. Maria Lepowsky, Dept. of Anthropology; and Gail Currie, Dept. of Rural Sociology.

The Medical History and Bioethics and Population Health working group is exploring innovative social science and ethics perspectives on population health. The group addresses problems of evidence in the formulation of population health research and the difficulties of translating data into policy. In a public health crisis, how much evidence is really needed, and how good must it be? While evidence-based models may have become a priority for decision-making in health policy and practice, simply having more data may not lead to meaningful action. New forms of evidence emerging with novel technologies, data gathered ethnographically, and health problems mired in complex political or environmental situations don't necessarily mesh well with existing models of certainty or hundred year-old regulatory schemes. The group works in collaboration with faculty and students from a variety of disciplines to study these concerns and find ways to design data collection and interpretation so that meaningful, ethically-sensitive policies can be formed.

2003-2004 Research Competition

Dr. Brion Fox and Amy Williamson, M.S., UW Comprehensive Cancer Center, "The Relationship between Societal Trends and Policy Change in Wisconsin: The Case of Tobacco and Smoking"

Prof. Timothy Halkowski, Ctr. for Urban Population Health, "Population, Risk and Probability as Theoretical and Folk Concepts: Studying Folk Usage to Deepen the Conceptual Framework of Population Health"

Prof. Marjorie Klein, Dept. Of Psychiatry, Dr. Marilyn Essex and Prof. Ned Kalin, Psychiatric Research Inst., "Pilot Study of Stress, Obesity, and Health in Children"

Dr. Susan Partington, Ctr. for Urban Population Health, "Identification of Repeat Pregnancies in Adolescents in Milwaukee Using Probabilistic Linkage of Birth Records and Analysis of Pregnancy Prevention Program Outcomes"

Prof. Gary Sandefur, Dept. of Sociology, Drs. Molly Martin and Michelle Frisco, Health & Society Scholars (Columbia Univ. and UW-Madison, respectively), "A Preliminary Investigation of the Causes and Consequences of Adolescent Obesity"

Mr. Tim Size, Exec. Dir., Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative, "How Can Rural Balanced Scorecards Best Incorporate Population Health Measures?"

Prof. Barbara Wolfe, Depts. of Population Health Sciences and Economics, Prof. Robert Haveman, Dept. of Economics, Dr. Thomas Kaplan, Inst. for Research on Poverty, "Badgercar and Former Welfare Recipients: A Path to Insurance Coverage and Higher Earnings?"

2002-2003 Research Competition

Prof. Aimee Dechter, Dept. of Sociology "Implications of Services and Environment for Socioeconomic and Racial Differentials in Mortality"

Prof. Daniel Hausman, Dept. of Philosophy "Measuring Preferences vs. Eliciting Opinions Concerning Health States"

Prof. Albert Gunther, Dept. of Life Science Communication, and Prof. James Dillard, Dept. of Communication Arts "A Pilot Study of Media Influences on Adolescent Smoking Adoption"

Prof. Sherrill Sellers, School of Social Work "The Health and Well-Being of African Immigrant Children and Their Families Madison Pilot Project"