Dr. Powers' research interests involve substantive and methodological issues related to non-marital fertility and infant mortality. His recent research is a comparative analysis of change in cause-specific infant mortality in the U.S. over a 20-year period in the non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black populations. This research departs from the standard approach of examining relative differentials by race by quantifying absolute change in cause-specific infant mortality over time. Several low-tech and high-tech interventions or medical innovations were implemented or expanded during the time period under investigation. This research shows differential rates of decline by race in response to these interventions/innovations. He is currently conducting an investigation of the epidemiological paradox in infant mortality which significantly extends earlier collaborative work with colleagues in the Population Research Center Mortality Group.