Supporting speech and swallowing in individuals with Down syndrome
Sep 21, 2023
Individuals with Down syndrome have vocational, educational, social and personal goals, all of which can be realized with targeted services, according to a Penn State research team. The researchers recently investigated how to establish specific support interventions related to speaking and…
Theatre professor and psychology faculty expand research on drawing and anxiety
Sep 6, 2023
For the past six years, Bill Doan’s research and creative work has focused on how drawing can be a tool for managing mental health. He is now involved in a joint-funded project that is taking that work to a new level by measuring individuals’ physiological responses while drawing. Doan, professor…
SSRI Welcomes Three New Co-Funded Faculty Members
Aug 9, 2023
The Social Science Research Institute welcomes three new co-funded faculty members to Penn State: Cleothia Frazier, asistant professor of sociology in the College of Liberal Arts. Frazier completed her Ph.D. in sociology at Vanderbilt University and MPH at Michigan State University. Prior to…
The Social Science Research Insitute announces cofunded and affiliated faculty member promotions
Jun 14, 2023
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Social Science Research Institute congratulates the following cofunded and affiliated Penn State faculty members on their promotions, which are effective July 1: Associate Research Professor: Xiaoxiao Bai, Social Science Research Institute, Office of the Senior Vice…
Understanding mechanisms of speech, swallowing in individuals with Down syndrome
Jun 12, 2023
A new $3.3 million grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) will enable a team of researchers at Penn State to study specific characteristics of individuals with Down syndrome that contribute to swallowing and speech outcomes with the goal of…
University Libraries Open Publishing launches 'The Future of Foster Care'
May 22, 2023
Penn State University Libraries’ Open Publishing program recently launched a new Open Access monograph. “The Future of Foster Care: New Science on Old Problems,” edited by Yo Jackson and Sarah Font, is a collection of expanded conference proceedings from the 2019 conference of the Child…News Topics: Child Maltreatment Solutions NetworkSSRI cofunds
New student civil rights project funded
May 10, 2023
SSRI Co-fund, Maithreyi Gopalan (PI) and PRI Faculty Associate, Erica Frankenberg (Co-PI) were recently awarded a grant by the Student Experience Research Network. Project Title: Centering Civil Rights Protections to Support Equitable Student Experiences: An Agenda-setting and Research…
College of Education faculty, staff and students celebrated at awards ceremony
May 4, 2023
SSRI cofunded faculty member Brandy Henry and PRI associate Erica Frankenberg were among the award winners at the Penn State College of Education's s annual spring awards ceremony on April 20. Cotterill Leadership Enhancement Award The Cotterill Leadership Enhancement Award was created through an…
Font featured in "The Lost Debate" podcast
May 2, 2023
SSRI cofund Sarah Font, associate professor of sociology and public policy, is interviewed on the podcast special episode "Invisible Kids: America’s Journey From Orphanages To Foster Care" about programs that are meant to care for the country’s most vulnerable children: the child-welfare system.…
EMS honors faculty and student excellence at annual awards celebration
Apr 27, 2023
SSRI cofund Louisa Holmes, assistant professor of geography, was recently awarded a Gladys Snyder Junior Faculty Grant for her proposal, “Spatial and contextual variations in opioid use and co-use across Pennsylvania in the wake of COVID-19.” The award is given out by Penn State's College of Earth…
Santos receives "We Are!" recognition
Apr 21, 2023
Several Penn State community members recently received a "We Are!" recognition for having gone above and beyond what’s asked of them in their work at the University. Included in this week's selection is SSRI cofund Alexis Santos, assistant professor of human development and family studies, whose…
P. Karen Murphy elected to National Academy of Education
Mar 21, 2023
P. Karen Murphy, head of the Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling and Special Education and Social Science Research Institute cofunded faculty member at Penn State, has been elected to the National Academy of Education (NAEd), an honorific society consisting of U.S. members and…News Topics: College of EducationSSRI cofunds
Ho awarded grant to study effects of migration on life expectancy
Jan 19, 2023
Life expectancy in the U.S. has been stagnating for over a decade, with coastal and metropolitan areas experiencing life expectancy gains far above those in interior and nonmetropolitan parts of the country. A $2.6 million grant awarded to Jessica Y. Ho, associate professor of sociology and…
SSRI cofund aims to protect farmworkers from hazards in the field
Dec 1, 2022
An estimated 73% of farmworkers in the United States were born outside the country, and nearly half have no legal immigration status, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Amy Snipes, associate professor of biobehavioral health and SSRI cofunded faculty member, has spent years…
Backlash to racial justice movements may boost risk of high BMI, obesity
Nov 2, 2022
Since its inception in 2013, the Black Lives Matter movement has helped raise awareness and mobilize efforts against racial inequality. It also has spurred controversy, and new research found that experiencing backlash to the movement may have negative health consequences for Black Americans. The…
Holmes interviewed on WTAJ
Oct 13, 2022
SSRI cofund Louisa Holmes was recently interviewed on WTAJ about how her research on lack of naloxone is linked to increased overdose deaths in smaller Pennsylvania communities. Policymakers may wish to consider using opioid settlement funds to expand access to naloxone in communities, says Holmes.
Social Science Research Institute welcomes Jessica Ho as cofunded faculty member
Sep 11, 2022
Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) recently announced new cofunded faculty member Jessica Ho, who will join the institute in the 2022-23 academic year. Ho is an associate professor of sociology and demography and an associate of the Population Research Institute and comes to Penn…
SSRI welcome event Sept. 21
Sep 1, 2022
Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) invites new social and biobehavioral faculty to meet SSRI faculty and affiliates and learn how SSRI can support their research on September 21, 3 – 5 p.m. at the Hintz Family Alumni Center. The outdoor ice-cream social will include a brief…News Topics: SSRISSRI cofunds
SSRI welcomes new associate directors
Aug 11, 2022
The Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) at Penn State announces the addition of two new associate directors, Jennifer Glick and Shedra Amy Snipes. Glick is the Arnold S. and Bette G. Hoffman Professor of Sociology and Criminology / Demography at Penn State, an SSRI cofunded faculty member, and…News Topics: SSRI DirectorSSRI cofunds
Buss one of five named 2022 Big Ten Academic Alliance Department Executive Officer Fellows
Jun 30, 2022
The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) Department Executive Officers (DEO) program has gained five additional fellows from the Penn State ranks. The BTAA is the academic consortium of the Big Ten universities and the United States’ preeminent model for effective collaboration among research…News Topics: SSRI cofundsPsychology
Study explores link between earthquakes, rainfall and food insecurity in Nepal
Sep 10, 2021
The effects of monsoon rainfall on food insecurity in Nepal vary by earthquake exposure, with regions that experienced both heavy earthquake shaking and abundant rainfall more likely to have an inadequate supply of nutritious food. That is one of the conclusions of a study led by Heather Randell,…
Childhood gender nonconformity in boys linked to early androgens
Sep 10, 2021
In laboratory animals, sex differences in behavior occur because different hormone levels produced by males and females influence patterns of gene expression in the developing brain. However, the origins of sex differences in human behavior are not as well understood, according to a team of…
HHD professor and graduate students “rappel for recovery”
Sep 7, 2021
As part of National Recovery Month, Hobart ‘Bo’ Cleveland, SSRI cofunded faculty member and professor of human development and family studies, Erik Dolgoff, graduate student in human development and family studies, and Samuel Wakely Stull, graduate student in biobehavioral health, recently…
Penn State early career scholars selected for postdoctoral fellowships
Jun 25, 2021
SSRI cofunded faculty member Ericka Weathers, assistant professor of education (educational theory and policy), and Matthew Gardner Kelly, assistant professor of education (educational leadership) in Penn State’s College of Education have been selected as 2021 National Academy of Education (NAEd)/…
SSRI cofund promotions
May 28, 2021
Penn State recently announced that seven of SSRI’s cofunded faculty members were promoted and several were granted tenure. Sarah Font was promoted to associate professor of sociology, Sheridan Miyamoto was promoted to associate professor of nursing, and Hannah Schreier was promoted to associate…News Topics: SSRI cofunds