Housing and Neighborhood Determinants of Sleep and Mental Health in Low-Income Toddlers and their Parents
Principal Investigators: Co-Principal Investigators: The goal of this project is to understand the contributions of poverty-related disparities in neighborhood and housing to sleep and mental health problems in early childhood. We will leverage data from an ongoing randomized controlled trial, the Parent and Toddler Health (PATH) project, which focuses on low-income families in the Boston […]
Introducing Our 2024 Early Stage Urban Research Award Recipients
The Boston University Initiative on Cities (IOC) is pleased to announce the 2024 recipients of our 10th request for proposals for the Early Stage Urban Research Awards. These seed grants support early-stage academic research endeavors focused on urban challenges and urban populations, both domestic and global. This year’s seed grant cycle is the second to […]
Coping with Extreme Heat: Intersecting Vulnerabilities Related to Urban Heat Islands, Homelessness, and Serious Mental Illness
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigator: Periods of extreme heat, which are increasing in frequency due to climate change, have been linked to adverse mental health outcomes, including symptoms related to schizophrenia, substance use, mood disorders, and suicide. At heightened risk for negative effects of extreme heat are individuals experiencing homelessness, who have higher rates of serious […]
Building Resilience after Redlining: Understanding the Cumulative Impact of Heat Vulnerability Factors in Massachusetts
Principal Investigators: Co-Principal Investigators: Extreme heat is becoming more frequent and severe, with deleterious impacts on human health. Populations living in urban areas are at particularly high risk due to overlapping built environment, demographic, and individual-level factors. Decades of racial and economic residential segregation and disinvestment have produced “redlined” neighborhoods characterized by poor housing stock […]
#BUandBoston: Interview with Tyler Critz – Running the Boston Marathon Representing Back on My Feet Boston
This post is part of our #BUandBoston series, highlighting the work and research of BU students, faculty, and staff throughout the City of Boston and the Greater Boston region. Interested in having your Boston-related work featured? Tag us on Instagram or Twitter (@BUonCities) using the #BUandBoston or send us an email at ioc@bu.edu. By Julia Kapusta “It was somewhat of […]
Dan Li Publishes New Paper on Urban Heat and Will Become IOC’s New Urban-H Associate Director of Heat
Boston University Associate Professor of Earth & Environment Dan Li’s new publication, Persistent Urban Heat, with co-authors Linying Wang (Boston University), Weilin Liao (Sun Yat-sen University), Ting Sun (University College London), Gabriel Katul (Duke University), Elie Bou-Zeid (Princeton University), and Björn Maronga (Leibniz University Hannover), tackles the urban heat island effect and demonstrates that urban […]
Alana Motley (CAS ’24) Awarded the 2024 Initiative on Cities Student Prize
The Initiative on Cities (IOC) is elated to announce that Alana Motley (CAS ’24) has been awarded the IOC Student Prize for the 2024 school year. The $1,000 prize is presented annually to one BU senior graduating with a minor in Urban Studies. We asked Alana to introduce herself and describe her experience as a Terrier […]
Apply to be the 2024–2025 IOC Menino Fellow with the National League of Cities!
Applications for the Initiative on Cities (IOC) 2024–2025 Menino Fellowship with the National League of Cities (NLC) are now open and due May 19, 2024. The Menino Fellowship provides one Boston University undergraduate student with the opportunity to explore an interest in public service, city-level programs and policies, and municipal leadership on behalf of children, […]
2023 Menino Survey of Mayors: Mayoral Accountability and Control Report
Elected officials often grapple with the gap between the policy issues within their control and those for which their constituencies hold them accountable. For example, at the national level, voters use the national economy’s performance as a critical indicator in choosing whether or not to re-elect a President (or a member of the President’s party). […]
#BUandBoston: Interview with Man Nguyen on Translating and Adapting the USDA’s Household Food Security Survey Module for Vietnamese Residents in Boston
This post is part of our #BUandBoston series, highlighting the work and research of BU students, faculty, and staff throughout the City of Boston and the Greater Boston region. Interested in having your Boston-related work featured? Tag us on Instagram or Twitter (@BUonCities) using the #BUandBoston or send us an email at ioc@bu.edu. By Julia Kapusta Man Nguyen, a senior […]