UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Five Penn State faculty members were recently named Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) Mid-Career Research-Practice Partnership Faculty Fellows for 2026–2027.
The fellows program supports faculty in developing sustained collaborations with practitioners to produce timely, policy-relevant research that improves outcomes for transition-age youth in foster care. Fellows work in partnership with the Pennsylvania Office of Children, Youth, and Families to strengthen cross-sector collaboration and advance evidence-based policy and practice.
“We’re excited to launch this fellowship with an incredible class of fellows who we will be partnering with over the next year to deepen their and Penn State’s capacity to engage in this partnership with OCYF and research-practice partnerships more generally,” said Erica Frankenberg, associate director of SSRI and professor of education. “Launching the Mid-Career Fellows Program enhances our support of an existing research-practice partnership between PSU researchers and a state agency and enhances the skills and capacity of Fellows to engage in this work. In doing so, it will contribute to one of the goals in SSRI’s strategic plan, to further our impact in Pennsylvania through engaged research.”
The five new fellows joined SSRI’s first Mid-Career Faculty Fellow Carlo Panlilio, associate professor of education and SSRI co-funded faculty member.
Panlilio’s scholarship focuses on transforming trauma-informed learning environments within early childhood education, K-12, postsecondary education, and child welfare to support children and youth exposed to adversity. His involvement with the WT Grant project began during the proposal stage, specifically working with CMSN’s Fostering Lions Program. He aims to gain a better understanding of what elements of FLP have been instrumental in supporting the retention, persistence, and college degree completion for Penn State students who have a history of foster care. His long-term goal for this project is to build sustainable relationships with our community/state agency partners and continue to understand how to ensure that campus support programs and independent living programs for youth still in high school can have access to the most current evidence-based practice to ensure academic success through trauma-informed education.
The 2026–2027 SSRI Mid-Career Research–Practice Partnership Fellows are:
Jochebed G. Gayles, assistant research professor, Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, College of Health and Human Development
Gayles’s scholarship focuses on promoting youth health and well-being, implementation of support systems, prevention workforce development, and culturally responsive and equitable evaluation in public systems and communities. Through the fellowship, Gayles will strengthen research–practice partnership expertise related to postsecondary outcomes for transition-age youth in foster care through sustained collaboration with the Pennsylvania Office of Children, Youth, and Families. Her long-term goal is to become a systems-level implementation scientist and equity-focused evaluation partner who co-designs and tests strategies and decision-support tools that help agencies translate evidence into sustainable supports for marginalized youth.
Maria Lewis, associate professor of education policy studies; affiliate, School of Law
Lewis’s research examines legal and policy developments related to equity, civil rights enforcement in education, leadership roles that support systemic change in schools, and research-informed law and policy. Her fellowship project will focus on improving college access and success for youth in foster care through cross-system collaboration. The project will also strengthen communicating research to policymakers and practitioners, increasing evidence-based policy and practice across the Commonwealth, and building sustainable child welfare partnerships within Penn State and beyond.
Kelly Rosinger, associate professor of education and public policy; affiliate, School of Public Policy; College of Education
Rosinger’s research examines the barriers students face in accessing postsecondary education and how policy can reduce structural inequities, particularly for students from lower-income and racially minoritized backgrounds. Through the fellowship, Rosinger plans to expand her research on improving postsecondary access and success for marginalized youth, strengthen her capacity to conduct community-engaged and partnership-based research, and deepen her work in policy-relevant scholarship.
Holly Nguyen, associate professor of sociology and criminology, College of the Liberal Arts; associate director, Criminal Justice Research Center
Nguyen’s research examines how criminal legal involvement, labor markets, and substance use policy shape inequality across the life course, particularly during transitions from adolescence into adulthood. Through the fellowship, she aims to deepen her understanding of how durable research–practice partnerships are developed and sustained, strengthen relationships with community partners, and translate empirical findings for both scholarly and policy audiences. Nguyen also plans to expand her work at the intersection of juvenile justice and child welfare outcomes for transition-age youth.
Noah Painter Davis, deputy director for research and research partnerships, Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing; associate clinical professor of sociology and criminology, College of the Liberal Arts.
Painter Davis directs research projects responding to legislative mandates and promotes partnerships between universities and agency stakeholders. His fellowship project will focus on developing a research–practice partnership model to evaluate criminal justice system practices, establish a replicable framework for collaboration, and explore the feasibility of a learning network to support future partnership-based projects across jurisdictions. The work is intended to strengthen evidence-based approaches to public safety and health.
"The Mid-Career Research–Practice Partnership Fellows Program is part of a broader SSRI initiative to strengthen collaboration between researchers and practitioners and to support the development and application of actionable research that informs policy and improves outcomes for transition-age youth in foster care," said Deborah Ehrenthal, SSRI director.
"The program aligns with SSRI’s new five-year strategic plan, which in part, focuses on mentoring, training, and providing grant development and other resources to early, mid-career and senior faculty to help them successfully compete for large institutional center and training grants."
The fellowship program is partly funded by the William T. Grant–Institutional Challenge Grant awarded to Penn State. View more information, including the application process