Date/Time
Date(s) - Jun 08, 2026 - Jun 09, 2026
All Day
Categories
How Policy Contexts Impact Population Health in the
United States
Conference plus Special Issue of The Milbank Quarterly
Conference Date: June 8 & 9, 2026
Location: Syracuse University
Federal, state, and local policies in areas such as employment, environment, housing, immigration, tobacco, firearms, alcohol and drugs, social safety nets, and criminal justice significantly affect population health, whether directly or indirectly. At the same time, the U.S. policy landscape has been shifting at the federal, state, and local levels with potentially profound consequences for population health outcomes and disparities.
The Center for Aging and Policy Studies (CAPS) and the Center for Policy Research (CPR) will host a conference on June 8 and 9, 2026 at Syracuse University to advance knowledge on the connections between policies and population health in a changing U.S. context. In conjunction with the CAPS-CPR conference, The Milbank Quarterly will publish a special issue in 2027. The conference and special issue seek empirical, methodological, and theoretical contributions on the topic. Of particular interest are papers that link changes and variation in policy contexts to health outcomes, identify mechanisms linking policies to outcomes, or propose new ways to measure and conceptualize policy contexts for health research.
Potential topics of papers for the conference and special issue include, but are not limited to:
State and Local Policy Variation
- Effects of divergent state policy contexts on trends in life expectancy, mortality, and disease burden.
- How state- or local-level health and other policies shape geographic disparities in health.
- Local governance innovations or preemptions and their impacts on health outcomes.
Structural and Social Determinants of Health
- State and federal housing, labor, or family policies as determinants of population health.
- The role of criminal justice and policing policies in shaping health disparities.
- How policies exacerbate or attenuate the population health impacts of economic downturns.
Populations and Inequities
- Policy effects on health outcomes across the rural–urban continuum.
- Immigration policies and immigrant health and wellbeing.
- Race-, ethnicity-, gender-, and class-specific impacts of policies on health.
Policy Change and Polarization
- Consequences of partisan polarization for population health trends and disparities.
- Long-term, historical analyses of major policy shifts and their effects on population health.
- Case studies of different states’ policy choices and resulting population health outcomes.
Data, Methods, and Measurement
- Advances in measuring federal, state, or local (i.e., county, city) policy contexts for health research.
- Comparative assessments of policy indices and their validity for population health research.
- Approaches for capturing life course exposures to policies.
Special Issue of The Milbank Quarterly
CAPS and CPR are partnering with The Milbank Quarterly, which will publish a special issue on “How Policy Contexts Impact Population Health in the United States.” Papers must be submitted to the special issue via the journal’s website by November 1, 2026 and will undergo the journal’s peer review process. The special issue will contain about 20 papers.
Conference to Present and Prepare Papers for the Special Issue
Authors intending to submit a paper to the special issue are strongly encouraged to submit an abstract of the paper by January 15, 2026 for presentation at the CAPS-CPR conference to be held June 8-9, 2026 at Syracuse University. Up to 15 papers will be selected for the conference. The goal of the conference is to significantly strengthen each paper before its submission to the special issue. The first author of each paper will be a 2026 CAPS-CPR Conference Fellow and will receive (1) reimbursement of travel expenses up to $1500, (2) feedback and suggestions from an assigned discussant and other conference fellows, and (3) a detailed written review by a guest editor of the special issue (Pinka Chatterji, Shannon M. Monnat, and Jennifer Karas Montez). Presentation at the conference is not a requirement for submitting a paper to the special issue.
How to apply to the conference: Applications must include a CV and a 2-page, single-spaced abstract of the paper. If there is more than one author, submit the CV of the first author and include the names of all authors on the abstract. Send the information as a single pdf by January 15, 2026 to CAPS@syr.edu with the subject “CAPS-CPR Conference Fellow Application.”
Timeline
| Jan 15, 2026 | Deadline for conference fellow applications |
| Feb 1, 2026 | All conference fellow applicants will be notified of a decision |
| May 22, 2026 | First draft of papers from conference fellows due to CAPS@syr.edu |
| June 8-9, 2026 | Conference held at Syracuse University |
| Nov 1, 2026 | Deadline to submit papers to The Milbank Quarterly for peer review |
| Nov 2026 – June 2027 | Peer review process |
| Nov 2027 | Special issue published |
Direct any questions to CAPS@syr.edu
