2024-2025 Training year events

Lunch&Learn: Understanding Health Behaviors using Natural Experiments

April 09, 2025 (Online event)

In our April Lunch & Learn session, Dr. Claire Boone led an insightful discussion on how natural experiments—real-world scenarios where policies, incentives, or circumstances change unexpectedly—have helped researchers uncover insights into health behaviors. Drawing on tools from behavioral science, economics, and machine learning, Dr. Boone explored how cognitive biases, financial incentives, and AI-driven interventions have shaped decision-making in primary and emergency care. 

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Lunch&Learn: Unlocking Canadian Research: The Power of Open Science

March 13, 2025 (Online event)

March’s Lunch&Learn session featured Professor Antonio Páez from McMaster University, who explored the power of open science in Canada. Drawing from his expertise in spatial sciences, Dr. Páez discussed how transparency, reproducibility, and accessibility are transforming research. He examined the challenges posed by proprietary tools and closed data, highlighting how open-source practices can enhance collaboration and innovation.

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Lunch&Learn: Bridging the gaps: Moving from insights to action with AI

February 12, 2025 (Online event)

February’s Lunch&Learn session featured Ima Okonny, Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Data Officer at Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). Drawing on 25 years of experience in data and analytics, she shared practical strategies for scaling responsible AI in the public sector. The discussion focused on balancing innovation with responsibility, leveraging data for action, and addressing ethical, operational, and organizational challenges.

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Lunch&Learn: Contributions to Tax-Favored Savings Accounts among Canadian Women and Men: An Overview of Trends since 1991

January 8, 2025 (Online event)

In this January Lunch&Learn session, Associate Professor Maude Pugliese from the Institut national de la recherche scientifique explored the evolving landscape of retirement savings in Canada. Delving into the nuances of Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) and Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs), she uncovered how these savings vehicles have been utilized differently by women and men and examined the implications for long-term financial security.

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Connect2Learn: Data Ethics

December 4, 2024 (Online event)

This Connect2Learn session with Dr. Nicholas King examined the ethical dilemmas raised by the use of data in formulating, implementing, and evaluating decisions and policies. It particularly focused on balancing the risks and benefits of using data for policy and addressing the unintended consequences of data-driven policymaking.

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Lunch&Learn: The All-or-Nothing Marriage? Marital Functioning from 1980 to 2023 in the United States 

November 13, 2024 (Online event)

In our November Lunch&Learn session, Professor Claire Kamp Dush explored the fundamental shifts in how we view marriage over the past four decades. Drawing from the groundbreaking Work and Family Life Study, she highlighted transformations in marital dynamics, including changes in happiness, conflict, and interaction.

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Lunch&Learn: Data in Focus: Navigating the Challenges of Visualization

October 23, 2024 (Hybrid event)

We hosted an informative Lunch&Learn session on data visualization featuring Dr. Matt Hauer, Associate Professor of Sociology at our partner institution, Florida State University. Dr. Hauer shared his experiences with data visualization, discussing best practices, challenges, and real-life applications in the field.

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Lunch&Learn: Rapid changes in family structure have profound implications for the provision of informal support worldwide

October 9, 2024 (Online event)

We kicked off the first Lunch&Learn session of the 2024-2025 training year with Dr. Diego Alburez-Gutierrez, Head of the Kinship Inequalities Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. During his talk, Dr. Alburez-Gutierrez provided valuable insights into the rapid changes in family structure and their significant implications for informal support systems worldwide.

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Connect2Learn: From Training to Data-Driven Decision-Making: CAnD3 Alumni Showcase 2024

September 4, 2024 (Online event)

In the opening session of the 2024-2025 Population Analytics in an Aging Society Training Program, we featured four notable alumni from the CAnD3 program. The session underscored the primary goal of the CAnD3 Training Program: to enhance Fellows' skills in population data science and computational population social science, equipping them to make evidence-based decisions in their respective fields.

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