For more than 50 years, researchers at the Institute for Policy Research have pursued a singular focus: providing the evidence that policymakers need to make people’s lives better. Our scholars tackle urgent challenges—from unsafe drinking water to gun violence to the toll discrimination takes on the body—through rigorous, policy-relevant research. Our findings don’t sit on a shelf—they inform decisions, powering policy progress and real-world change far beyond Northwestern.
Developing a Test to Check for Lead in Drinking Water
Lead is a neurotoxin, and exposure to it can cause serious health issues, particularly in children. In 2018, a Chicago Tribune investigation found lead in the tap water of nearly 70% of homes they tested in the Chicago area over the previous two years. To give people living in Chicago better information about their water quality, IPR faculty Julius Lucks and Sera Young and their teams developed a hand-held test kit that people can easily use at home. The tests require just a single drop of tap water to test for harmful contaminants, such as lead, copper, and “forever chemicals” known as PFAS. It is currently being piloted throughout greater Chicago.
Information is power, and these tests make invisible issues visible. We hope that families and organizations can use the tests in their daily activities to understand where the problems are in Chicago.
”
IPR anthropologist Sera Young
Reducing Crime in Chicago
Community violence intervention (CVI) programs, or efforts to stop gun violence before it starts, empower city residents to use their local expertise to prevent crime. Studies by the Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research and Science (CORNERS) show that a CVI program in Chicago reduced gun violence. CORNERS, led by IPR’s Andrew Papachristos and Soledad Adrianzén McGrath, looked into the Chicago CRED (Create Real Economic Destiny) program, discovering that those who completed the program were less likely to commit a violent crime two years after enrolling. Given the abundant evidence that CVI programs reduce gun violence, the researchers encourage policymakers to make it easier for residents to participate in CVI programs and to scale up CVI programs in at-risk neighborhoods.
How School Shootings Impact Students’ Mental Health
Since the 1999 Columbine shooting, more than 378,000 students have experienced a shooting at school. IPR economists Molly Schnell and Hannes Schwandt and colleagues investigated how school shootings impact students’ mental health. They showed that after a fatal school shooting, the use of prescription drugs to treat mental illnesses increased by more than 25% among children living near the incident, especially among those who were not previously medicated for mental health conditions. This was true five and a half years later. The researchers recommend enacting policies that provide ongoing support to survivors of school shootings—and others that prevent shootings from occurring in the first place.
Experiencing Racial Discrimination Is Linked to Worse Health Over a Decade Later
Racism isn’t just a social issue—it’s a public health risk. IPR scholars Nia Heard-Garris, Edith Chen, and Greg Miller found that young Black adults who reported experiencing racial discrimination in their late teens and early 20s had an increased risk of metabolic syndrome—a predictor of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke—at age 31. The research suggests that inflammation and difficulty sleeping may be pathways that explain how racial discrimination leads to poor health. This study reveals that experiencing racial discrimination at a young age can be especially damaging, showing up in the body years later.
Fast Food Workers in LA Are Losing Money Every Year in Wage Theft
Instances of wage theft, or when employers illegally avoid paying their employees their full wage, have been on the rise in Los Angeles. IPR political scientist Daniel Galvin and Jake Barnes at Rutgers University looked at wage theft in LA’s fast food industry, finding that the fast food workers in the city lost $44 million per year to wage theft. The report explains that educating workers about their rights in the workplace—the aim of a measure under consideration by the LA City Council—is one way to keep wages in the hands of fast food workers.
When low-wage workers are underpaid by even a small percentage of their income, they face major hardships such as being unable to pay for rent, afford childcare, or put food on the table.”
