Learning Center

Using Neighborhood Data in Aging Research: The National Neighborhood Data Archive (NaNDA)

Using Neighborhood Data in Aging Research: The National Neighborhood Data Archive (NaNDA)

Includes a Live Web Event on 10/07/2026 at 12:00 PM (EDT)

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Neighborhood environments shape health and aging outcomes, yet many researchers lack access to comprehensive, research-ready neighborhood data or struggle to integrate it with their own datasets. The National Neighborhood Data Archive (NaNDA) provides free, publicly available neighborhood-level measures covering the entire United States across multiple decades—but navigating this resource effectively requires understanding geographic identifiers, temporal alignment, and data linkage strategies. This virtual workshop addresses a critical gap by providing practical, hands-on training in selecting, accessing, and linking NaNDA datasets with survey and administrative data on aging. Participants will learn not only what NaNDA offers, but how to use it effectively in their own research, with explicit focus on applications in aging and population health research.

Philippa Clarke, BA, MSc, PhD

Philippa Clarke, BA, MSc, PhD

Professor

University of Michigan

Philippa Clarke received her graduate training in Epidemiology/Social Science and Health from the University of Toronto. She is a social epidemiologist and social gerontologist with substantive and methodological expertise in the role of the neighborhood environment for healthy aging. Her research examines the role of neighborhood built, physical, and social environments for disability, cognitive function, and social participation. She also directs the National Neighborhood Data Archive (NaNDA), a nationwide repository of publicly available contextual data spanning over two decades.

Will Clary, MLIS

Will Clary, MLIS

University of Michigan

Lindsay Gypin, MLIS, MA

Lindsay Gypin, MLIS, MA

Data Librarian, National Neighborhood Data Archive, Survey Research Center

Senior Project Manager, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan

Lindsay Gypin is Data Librarian and Senior Project Manager for the Social Environment and Health Program in the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, where she manages the National Neighborhood Data Archive (NaNDA). NaNDA is a federally funded open data repository that publishes free measures of neighborhood physical and social environments through ICPSR, supporting researchers studying how place shapes health and aging across the life course. Lindsay leads NaNDA's curation pipeline and works directly with researchers to help them find the right measures, understand geographic units and coverage, and link neighborhood data to their own study samples. She also serves as adjunct faculty in the MLIS program at the University of Denver's Morgridge College of Education. She brings over fifteen years of library experience and a focus on making data genuinely usable — well documented, well described, and easy to cite.

Robert Melendez, MLIS

Robert Melendez, MLIS

University of Michigan

Grace Noppert, PhD

Grace Noppert, PhD

Research Associate Professor

University of Michigan

Grace Noppert is a Research Associate Professor in the Social Environment and Health Group at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, where she co-directs the Biosocial Research Collaborative and serves as Deputy Director of the National Neighborhood Data Archive (NaNDA). Her research sits at the intersection of social epidemiology, infectious disease, and aging, examining how social and environmental exposures across the life course shape immune function in later life. Her work leverages cellular-specific immune and herpesviruses measures to identify the mechanisms linking social conditions to biological aging.

All times are ET

Agenda

12:00 PM What is NaNDA? Overview and Repository Tour
12:25 PM NaNDA in Action: Gerontological Research Examples
12:50 PMTransition to Breakout Rooms
12:55 PM Breakout Rooms

Beginner: Choosing Your First NaNDA Dataset

Intermediate: Linking NaNDA With Your Data
1:40 PM Reconvene and Report Back
1:55 PM Wrap-Up and Resources


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10/07/2026 at 12:00 PM (EDT)  |  120 minutes
10/07/2026 at 12:00 PM (EDT)  |  120 minutes Welcome to today's workshop! Programming will begin at 12:00 PM ET, but feel free to join us in the waiting room, which will open at 11:30 AM ET.
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