Special Issue: Linked Data Across the Life Course: Leveraging Data for Health and Wellbeing
The International Journal of Population Data Science (IJPDS) is pleased to invite submissions for a special issue on the theme of "Linked Data Across the Life Course: Leveraging Data for Health and Wellbeing." This call of papers is aligned with WHO's framework on operationalizing a life course approach.
In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the value of linked data in understanding complex health phenomena and creating interventions that promote health and wellbeing across all life stages using a multisectoral approach. This special issue aims to bring together innovative research and case studies that link data from diverse sources to examine health and wellbeing over the life course, including application of appropriate measures to facilitate analyses across life stages. The issue will aim to feature examples from different countries, including those conducted as part of the WHO’s work on operationalising a life course approach, which connects healthy development and healthy ageing. The defining features of this body of work include person-centred goals that not only manage disease, but also produce good health and wellbeing and to enhance physical and mental capacities and abilities at every age (1,2), with an emphasis on optimising health trajectories. In turn, this aligns with the new WHO Life Course Framework, which will be published in 2025.
This special issue will explore how routinely collected data (from a range of sources and sectors e.g. administrative, hospital) can be used in novel ways to improve health and well-being outcomes, across the life course. Papers will inform ongoing efforts to improve data collection and reporting across different life stages, highlighting linkages, existing gaps, and opportunities for future research.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Longitudinal studies linking health outcomes across the life course
- Data linkage techniques for studying social determinants of health
- Applications of linked data in health policy and decision-making
- Ethical and privacy considerations in linked data research
While all submissions should focus on linked data, authors are encouraged to explore diverse approaches and methodologies using different formats (e.g. data resource profiles, reviews, case studies). This may include in-depth discussions of selected data sources, scoping reviews, or other unique methods to identify and present findings.
We particularly encourage papers that address:
- Research that demonstrates how linked data approaches have been applied to capture life course trajectories
- Descriptive or discursive papers that discuss challenges and solutions in increasing availability of or using linked data for life course research, especially in low- and middle-income settings or among marginalized groups.
We invite submissions showcasing innovative uses of linked data systems to explore health and well-being outcomes across multiple life stages. Below are some examples of what we seek:
- Longitudinal studies using linked data: Examples include studies linking hospital admissions, administrative records, or health outcomes across decades to uncover life course impacts.
- Intergenerational cohort studies: Articles analysing how linked parent-child data, including family linkages, contribute to understanding hereditary and social influences on health.
- Cross-sectoral linkages: For example, papers integrating health data with education, employment, or social service records or data from other sectors to explore intersections across life domains.
- Methodological innovations: Novel approaches to data linkage, addressing challenges like missing data, confidentiality, or ethical considerations within the context of a life course framework.
- Other studies or reviews illustrating how linked data can provide insights into transitions and interactions between key life stages.
What the Call Is Not Looking For:
- Single-stage studies focusing exclusively on isolated life stages that do not have implications for health in subsequent life stages
- Articles focusing on technical aspects of data linkage systems without addressing health and well-being outcomes
We welcome articles from diverse disciplines, including public health, epidemiology, sociology, and data science, that align with these themes.
Submission Deadline: 30th November 2025
Early Publication: IJPDS will publish articles as they are accepted, allowing earlier submissions to be available online sooner. We look forward to receiving manuscripts that contribute to this growing field and advance our understanding of how linked data can improve health outcomes across the life course.
For further information contact Dr Jacob using jacobc@who.int or lifecourse@who.int
The World health Organization acknowledges financial support from the Velux Stiftung to WHO, including support to conduct research and advance metrics and evidence on applying the benefits of a person-centred approach to healthy ageing across the life course.
- World Health Organization. Decade of healthy ageing: baseline report; 2021 Jan
- World Health Organization. Creating healthy life trajectories: universal health coverage and a life course approach: Technical Brief; 2023 Feb Available at https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/creating-healthy-life-trajectories--universal-health-coverage-and-a-life-course-approach
Editors
Prof Janeen Baxter is Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course and ARC Kathleeen Fitzpatrick Laureate Fellow in the Institute for Social Science at the University of Queensland. Janeen has research interests in social disadvantage, gender inequality, family dynamics, life course and longitudinal studies and has published widely in these areas, as well as supervising the research of numerous higher degree students and research fellows. Janeen is an elected fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and the National Academy of Sciences in the US. She is currently a member of several advisory committees including the Committee for Economic Development of Australia Council on Economic Policy and the Child Support Expert Advisory Committee and serves on several editorial boards for national and international journals. See more at https://lifecoursecentre.org.au/
Professor Adam Chee is Education Lead & Co-Director and Honorary Professor of Health Systems Transformation at Swansea University. A convergence scientist familiar with Health(Care), Informatics, Innovation, Technologies and (equally important,) the Business aspects of the ecosystem, Adam serves as a coach & conduit between diverse key opinion leaders & stakeholders, engaging at operational, strategic and governmental levels as well as developing commercial relationships with global firms and local start-ups in the utilization of Data, Technology & Design as enablers for transformation, addressing the challenges of existing and new models of health(care).
Bringing years of experience and expertise in strategy & operational consulting, technology & workflow advisory, design, spearheading implementation & adoption of solutions across Asia Pacific and Middle East, Adam had a successful career in the Tech industry before venturing into Health Informatics in 2002. His unique background also includes working in business, market development and product management with established MNCs and innovative Startups. Adam also ‘earned his stripes’ as an industry pioneer, implementing and managing clinical information solutions during his tenure with Singapore Health Services (SingHealth) and have since worked across the healthcare ecosystem, including the primary care sector, private & public tertiary hospitals, research institutes, government health agencies and NGOs across the globe. Adam serves as an Expert (Digital Health) with World Health Organization (WHO).
Dr Chandni Maria Jacob is a consultant with WHO MCA Geneva. She is a medical doctor with an MSc in Public Health and holds a PhD in Human Development and Health. She has extensive experience in research on multiple life stages such as preconception, pregnancy and childhood, the policy implications of the DOHaD and life course concepts, NCD prevention and has collaborated with WHO headquarters and WHO the European Region on topics addressing the life course. She currently works as a consultant with the Universal Health Coverage, Life Course Division in WHO on a collaborative research to policy programme “Extending the Benefits of Healthy Ageing across the Life Course” coordinating research activities. She is also the Specialist Policy Officer for the Faculty of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Southampton, United Kingdom, supporting knowledge translation from research to policy and addressing the evidence demand from policy-makers in local, national and international contexts.
Dr Ritu Sadana is Head of Ageing and Health at WHO. She is also leading WHO’s cross-cutting efforts to fill in evidence gaps and provide guidance on how to implement a life course approach in practice, based in the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent and Ageing, Division of Universal Health Coverage / Life Course. This includes engaging all levels of WHO, an expert, international network on life course – to connect optimal development and healthy ageing - including 16 life course centers from around the world. She conceived the development of the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing 2021-2030 and led the research and writing of WHO’s baseline report for this Decade in 2020, coordinated the development of the first WHO Global Strategy on Ageing and Health, endorsed by the World Health Assembly in 2016, action plan, and co-authored the WHO World Report on Ageing and Health.
Trained as an economist and epidemiologist, Dr Sadana has more than 30 years of experience in public and private sectors, working in multiple countries and regions. She previously led WHO’s secretariat’s support to the WHO Council on the Economics of Health for All, and the evidence arm of the WHO’s Secretariat’s support to the WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. She is an editorial advisor to the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, and an member of the international advisory board of THE LANCET Healthy Longevity.
Dr Gindo Tampubolon is a Reader in Global Health at the Global Development Institute University of Manchester (ORCiD). His research focuses on ageing, frailty, dementia, and health inequalities, with expertise in large-scale epidemiological studies, policy analysis, and global health interventions.
Dr. Tampubolon has led and contributed to major international projects, including the scale-up of cardiovascular risk management in Indonesia, the Policy Research Unit on Older People and Frailty, and the SENSE-Cog study on dementia and sensory impairments. His work is funded by prestigious bodies such as the NIHR, MRC, Horizon 2020, and the NHMRC Australia. His current research explores the links between brain structure, sensory impairments, and ageing, leveraging data from the UK Biobank, the US Health and Retirement Survey, and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.