About

Data Sharing for Demographic Research (DSDR) archives data with external validity that can be generalized to populations. DSDR advances research in population dynamics and allied fields by providing access to data that can be used to study critical issues related to maternal and child health as well as other areas of public health including the human lifecycle. By engaging the demographic community and colleagues from multiple related disciplines with important data sources, DSDR encourages research that both contributes to fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and applies that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.

The Population Dynamics Branch (PDB) of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development funds DSDR (R24HD048404). DSDR is housed within the ICPSR, the world's largest social science data archive, and is part of the University of Michigan'sInstitute for Social Research (ISR).

Our Mission

DSDR enhances the impact of NICHD-funded research within the scientific mission of the NICHD-Population Dynamics Branch by providing a platform through which researchers can discover, access, and analyze secondary data. DSDR preserves data and documentation from the field’s most important studies that will endure for generations.

DSDR carries out this mission by:

• Sustaining and building the collection of data, documentation, and other support files.
• Improving discoverability and exploration of data.
• Amplifying access to restricted-use data. 
• Enabling the combining of new types of data (e.g., biomarkers, neuroimages, and administrative records) with survey data.
• Offering training and performing outreach to engage the demographic community. 

Key Staff

• Trent Alexander, Project Director
  
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  J. Trent Alexander

  J. Trent Alexander is the Associate Director and a Research Professor at ICPSR in the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. Alexander is a historical demographer and builds social science data infrastructure. In addition to directing DSDR, he currently leads the Decennial Census Digitization and Linkage Project (joint with Katie Genadek) and ResearchDataGov (joint with Lynette Hoelter). Prior to coming to ICPSR in 2017, Alexander initiated the Census Longitudinal Infrastructure Project at the Census Bureau and managed the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) at the University of Minnesota.

• Sarah Rush, MSW, Data Project Manager
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  Sarah Rush, M.S.W.

  Sarah Rush is a Data Project Manager for DSDR. Her primary responsibilities include project administration, data depositor assistance, outreach, reporting, and data curation oversight.

  Ms. Rush holds a Master's Degree in Social Work from the University of Michigan. She has experience working with data related to substance abuse, mental health, and solid organ transplantation. Ms. Rush began working at ICPSR in 2007 and has contributed to the DSDR project since 2015.

• Kelly Ogden-Schuette, MIA, Data Project Manager
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  Kelly Ogden-Schuette, M.I.A.

  Kelly Ogden-Schuette is a Data Project Manager for DSDR. Her primary responsibilities include restricted data access management, user support, outreach, and reporting.

  Ms. Ogden-Schuette holds a Master's Degree in International Affairs from Columbia University. She has experience working with data related to youth, STEMM and influencing factors, and election studies. Ms. Ogden-Schuette worked for the American National Election Studies at the Institute for Social Research (ISR) from 2004-2008 and returned to ISR in 2015, transferring to the DSDR project at ICPSR in April 2019.

NICHD Contact

• Randy Capps, PhD, DSDR Program Officer