Box migration training sessions available
The Penn State IT Learning and Development team has created 1.5-hour live training sessions to help faculty and staff navigate Box migration steps before their migration. The Penn State community can find registration information, including session dates and details, on the Preparing for the Box to…
EIC Podcast on examining the delivery of special education services during COVID-19
The Evidence-to-Impact Collaborative Podcast is offering a new series called The Pandemic Perspective, where we examine how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and various aspects of our society, institutions, and other systems have collided, changed, and even collapsed in the last nine months.
For the…
College of Medicine receives $2.7 million to address COVID-19 health disparities
Dr. Jennifer Kraschnewski, professor of medicine, public health sciences and pediatrics at Penn State College of Medicine, has received $2.69 million through the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to establish projects aimed at addressing COVID-19 health disparities among nursing…
Preschool program linked with better social and emotional skills years later
A preschool enrichment program developed at Penn State helps boost social and emotional skills that still have positive effects years later during middle and high school, according to a new study.
The researchers found that students attending Head Start preschools that implemented the Research-…
Institute of State and Regional Affairs looks at COVID-19 senior isolation risk
Continuing its analysis on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Pennsylvania, the Institute of State and Regional Affairs (ISRA) at Penn State Harrisburg has released new data, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Population Network, examining the impact of social isolation in the senior…
SSRI sponsors Centre Safe family
Once again, SSRI sponsored a mother and her three children this year through Centre Safe. The donations received from the Fall Gathering totaled $505, enabling us to purchase a $50 gift card for each family member and provided an additional $305 in checks. Thank you for helping us help a family in…
Impacts of the pandemic on emotion of fear
When people perceive themselves to be in danger, they usually experience some degree of fear. This emotion is useful because it can motivate them to learn more about the problem or to take some action to protect themselves against it, according to James Dillard, distinguished professor…
New research highlights the role and impact of integrated health systems in U.S.
Health care delivery in the United States is complex and often problematic — it is costly, short on quality, and inequitable. A team of researchers suggest one potential remedy may be found in integrated health systems, a type of organization that has grown significantly in recent years and often…
Parental stress biology and mental health symptoms affect young children
Parental depression and anxiety can have profound effects on children. For the first time, Penn State researchers demonstrated that stress biology relates to depressive and anxiety symptoms differently for mothers versus fathers, and that parents’ profiles of stress biology and symptoms can predict…
Preventing risky drinking by college students the focus of new Penn State study
Is there a simple way for parents to reduce the chance of their college-age children having problems resulting from drinking alcohol? Professor of Biobehavioral Health Robert Turrisi was recently awarded a 5-year, $3.6 million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to…
Important PSU information regarding postdoc travel
Uncertainties across the world related to the ongoing pandemic have led Penn State to suspend University-affiliated international travel and to discourage personal travel abroad by Penn State students, faculty, and staff. While we understand that many postdoctoral scholars and fellows (domestic or…
New CTSI Engage podcast discusses research ethics
Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute released the latest episode of its Engage podcast, featuring Jen McCormick, associate professor of humanities, discussing research ethics. How research is conducted is an important topic. Scientists must balance several principles when…
New book on technology to support communication for people with Down syndrome
Individuals with Down syndrome often have intellectual disabilities and low vision or hearing, all of which can cause communication challenges, according to Krista Wilkinson, professor of communication sciences and disorders. Wilkinson recently co-edited a new book, "Multimodal AAC…
Impacts of the pandemic on anticipatory grief
Receiving a diagnosis from a doctor that explains your previously unexplainable symptoms can often bring about feelings of relief. But this year, the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, and its diagnosis has offered its targets no such comfort. Anxiety, sadness, and distress caused by the fear of a…
Building bridges to improve drug misuse prevention
Many agencies at the national, state and local levels are working to address the nation’s drug and alcohol misuse crisis. While this provides numerous opportunities for individuals to receive support, efforts across these agencies are often not closely coordinated.
A new million-dollar award from…
Registration open for a seminar on collaborating across disciplines
Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute presents "Collaboration Across Disciplines" at its next Translational Science Seminar Series webinar from noon to 1 p.m. on Dec. 15.
Jessica Ericson and Winnie Adebayo will present the webinar. Both are part of a…
Join CCSA for Giving Tuesday on December 1
The Consortium to Combat Substance Abuse (CCSA) needs your help to support research focused on helping individuals and families through the opioid crisis and greater substance use issues.
Our work draws on the expertise of researchers, educators, and practitioners from Penn State campuses to…
SSRI Fall Gathering goes virtual
Faculty and staff from all of SSRI's units recently gathered together virtually to celebrate major accomplishments of the year and to announce staff awards.
The “Above and Beyond Award” was given to Barbara Rigg, SSRI grants and contracts manager and director of the administrative core, and Mark…
Next on WPSU’s ‘Digging Deeper:’ COVID-19 and the rise of the online classroom
The ways the coronavirus pandemic has changed the traditional brick-and-mortar learning experience and led to a new online classroom for K-12 and higher education students will be discussed during the next episode of WPSU’s “Digging Deeper” on Sunday, Nov. 22.
Paul Morgan, professor of education…
Engineering professor named as new Consortium to Combat Substance Abuse director
Paul Griffin, professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering and recently returning Penn State faculty member, will become the next interim director of the Consortium to Combat Substance Abuse (CCSA) beginning in summer 2021. Griffin, an expert in health systems engineering, is…
Impacts of the pandemic on college students’ sense of belonging
People have a fundamental human need to belong. Especially during transitions to a new environment like college, people often worry about whether they belong, even in non-pandemic times. With so many classes and social interactions shifted to a staid online setting, which precludes hallway…
Why Social Science? Because It Can Help Us Cope with Pandemic Fatigue
By Jay Maddock, PhD, Professor of Public Health, Texas A&M University
As the pandemic drags on, following COVID-19 prevention guidelines can feel like more and more of a challenge.
This kind of fatigue is not unique to pandemic precautions like sticking with social distancing, masking up and…
COVID-19 and the potential costs of social isolation
The COVID-19 pandemic continues across the globe and in the United States. Currently, science and medicine offer clear methods on how to reduce the risk of transmission — including social distancing. Yet this behavior comes with a potential cost of reduced social connections and research has shown…
Extended Guidance for Applicants Preparing Applications During the COVID-19 Pandemic
NIH grant applications should NOT include contingency plans that would outline steps needed to recover from temporary, emergency situations, or institutional return-to-the-workplace plans, resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Contingency plans will not be considered in peer review but, if needed,…
Book co-edited by Penn State faculty explores gender relations in agriculture
While women represent a significant portion of the global agricultural workforce, they face many roadblocks to success, including limited access to land, technological advancements, education and financing. They also often are excluded from household-level and policy decisions that determine their…