The Duke Population Research Center (DPRC) is one of two centers within the Duke University Population Research Institute (DUPRI). As an interdisciplinary research organization that assembles population scholars across Duke, DPRC enhances Duke’s strengths in demography and population science by producing highly innovative research and advancing the next generation of population scientists.
DPRC's primary research areas:
- Foundations of Lifelong Health, furthering the study of early life biological, developmental and environmental (including social, economic, policy) processes responsible for lifelong health and wellbeing
- Interconnected Social Systems and Population Health, furthering research that leverages social connectivity to model demographic, developmental and health outcomes and to organize data collection
- Durham Population Lab, a collaborative initiative to examine social and environmental features that contribute to the early life precursors of divergent health trajectories in Durham, North Carolina's racially and socioeconomically diverse population
DPRC also provides regularized support for junior faculty in their research and extramural application development. The Center’s pilot project program funds high-risk, innovative ideas, and the DPRC integrates cross-disciplinary training opportunities into its research programs. In close collaboration with the Duke Network Analysis Center (DNAC), the Center supports a unique training program in networks and health outcomes.
To further expand opportunities for scholars at all levels, DPRC has developed productive collaborative research initiatives with the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy (CCFP), the Children’s Health & Discovery Initiative (CHDI) in the Duke School of Medicine the French National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED),the International Max Planck Research School for Population Health and Data Science (IMPRS/PHDS) at the Max Planck Institute of Demographic Research (MPIDR) and the North Carolina Central University, Julius L. Chambers Biomedical Biotechnology Research Institute (BBRI).