Inaugural substance abuse conference to be held April 29 at University Park
Penn State’s Consortium to Combat Substance Abuse (CCSA) will host a conference to bring together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, foundation representatives, and the public to discuss significant and emerging problems in combating substance abuse.
“Envisioning a Future Free from Addiction…
Registration open for seminar on how views on time affect teams
“The Clocks That Time Us: Navigating Temporal Differences in Teams” will be presented at the next Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute Bench to Bedside and Beyond Seminar Series, from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 28.
In addition to being held in 116 Henderson…
A close watch: IST seed grant funds study to assess and predict substance co-use
A technology-based intervention that could reduce the risk of young adults simultaneously using alcohol and marijuana may soon be as close as a user’s wrist, thanks to a new study launched by researchers at Penn State.
The team recently earned a seed grant from the College of Information Sciences…
Families and schools may play key roles in promoting adolescent self-confidence
Self-confidence is critical for teens as they prepare for the challenges of adulthood, and both families and schools may together play a vital role in boosting adolescents’ confidence even in the face of difficulties with family, according to researchers.
The researchers examined how a variety of…
Penn State researchers contribute to special section on puberty research
Puberty is a distinct developmental period with unique research opportunities, according to a group of current and former Penn State researchers who collaborated on several papers that comprise a special section on puberty in the current Journal of Research on Adolescence (JRA).
“With fewer papers…
Penn State research highlighted in OSSBR Connector
Physiological indicators for personalized medicine: towards optimal behavioral interventions for at-risk children
Personalized healthcare has the potential to optimize the effectiveness of behavioral interventions. Recent research supported by NICHD, NIDA, and co-funded by OBSSR looked at how…
Eliminating smoking and obesity could affect racial health disparities
Obesity and smoking are the two leading causes of preventable deaths in the U.S., yet their full impact on health disparities is still being uncovered.
Michelle Frisco, associate professor of sociology and demography and Social Science Research Institute co-funded faculty member at Penn State, is…
Researchers recognized for innovative work in aging
The Mather LifeWays Institute on Aging has recently recognized three investigators in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State for their innovative research in aging.
Nilam Ram, professor of human development and family studies and psychology; Lizbeth Benson, a…
2019 Lecture on Compassion to focus on cultivating mental health
The importance of promoting mental health and well-being among women, children and families will be the topic of the fourth annual Lecture on Compassion. Sona Dimidjian, professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado, Boulder, will discuss “Expanding Compassion: Reflections…
Seed grants awarded to projects using Twitter data
Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute (SSRI), in collaboration with the Institute for CyberScience (ICS) and the College of Information Sciences and Technology, has awarded over $100,000 in funding to support six new interdisciplinary teams of Penn State researchers whose work is…
Opioid crisis shows partnering with industry can be bad for public health
By Jonathan H. Marks, Director of the Bioethics Program and affiliate faculty in Law and International Affairs, Pennsylvania State University, for The Conversation
“Show me the bodies!” someone demanded at the end of my lecture a few years ago.
As a scholar of public health ethics, law and policy,…
Housing is health: 'Ask the Experts' addresses social determinants of health
The latest episode of the “Ask the Experts” series features Ann Kunkel and Dianna Benaknin of WellSpan Health. In a discussion highlighting WellSpan's interest in addressing social determinants of health, Kunkel and Benaknin focus on the impact of housing on health and describe a number of programs…
Society accepting nominations for outstanding postdocs, mentors
The Penn State Postdoctoral Society (PSPS) is pleased to announce the call for nominations for the 5th Annual Penn State Outstanding Post Doc and Postdoctoral Mentor Awards.
The Postdoctoral Mentor Award will recognize an outstanding faculty member who has demonstrated a commitment…
New website will help researchers navigate cyberinfrastructure resources
The Office of the Vice President for Research has launched cyberinfrastructure.psu.eduto help faculty and staff find data, cyber, programming and IT resources available to researchers at Penn State. The site covers broad categories that include, but are not limited to, data storage, cloud computing…
Some personal beliefs and morals may stem from genetics
A new baby is often welcomed with speculation about whether they got their eyes and nose from mom or dad, but researchers say it may be possible for children to inherit their parents’ moral characteristics, as well.
The researchers found that while parents can help encourage their children to…
Depression screening rates remain low among adolescents
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is increasing among U.S. adolescents, while screening rates for depression remain low and insufficient in addressing the rising mental health crisis, according to data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
A research team lead by Deepa Sekhar, associate…
Researchers examine why health and social services go unused by new veterans
Returning to civilian life can be challenging for veterans. While there are many programs and services aimed at helping them readjust, some veterans do not take advantage of these supportive resources. A Penn State-led research team examined factors that are associated with program non-use among…
Why Social Science? - Because It Requires Confronting the Assumptions We Have About Others
By Lee Hoffer, PhD, Associate Professor of Medical Anthropology, Case Western Reserve University
Social science comes in many varieties, is comprehensive in scope, and applied to an infinite number of real-world challenges, questions, and problems society faces. At its core, it concerns the human…
Sharkey shares impact of Penn State research across University and beyond
Since the University’s founding when Penn State’s first president Evan Pugh set forth the college’s research vision in 1859, innovation and knowledge creation have been a foundational element of the land-grant mission, according to Neil Sharkey, vice president for research.
Describing…
Project ECHO prepares doctors to manage addiction care closer to home
For patients suffering from opioid use disorder, and for the physicians in small towns across Pennsylvania who are their first level of care, Project ECHO offers hope. The effort aims to give primary care physicians the tools they need to treat the growing group of Pennsylvanians addicted to…
Funding agency investigations emphasize need for researcher disclosures
As international research collaboration continues to grow at Penn State and universities across the U.S., investigators are urged to carefully review the disclosure of their international affiliations. While the vast majority of international collaborations are acceptable — and encouraged — it is…
Morgan to serve on ECLS technical review panel
Paul Morgan, director of the Center for Educational Disparities Research and PRI affiliate, has been invited to serve on the Technical Review Panel for the new Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2022-23 (ECLS-K: 2023). As a panelist, Morgan will be advising the U.S.…
Disclosure of foreign affiliations
Investigators submitting proposals and Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs) to NIH should know it is critically important that they accurately identify any foreign collaborations associated with their research.
Question 6.a. on the “RESEARCH & RELATED Other Project Information” form…
Student shares story of opioid addiction to support others
Erin Bergner, a Penn State Abington junior, is motivated, to say the least: She carries extra courses so she can graduate early, works in a faculty research lab, and holds down another part-time job. And all the while she is managing her recovery from opioid addiction and telling her story on…
Sharing your research expertise with policymakers
Please consider joining the Rapid Response Network for the Research-to-Policy Collaboration (RPC), which involves preparing and engaging researchers around policy efforts related to their expertise because doing so is thought to support policymakers' use of…