Penn State hosts summit to combat the opioid epidemic
Opioid overdose deaths in Pennsylvania increased 37 percent in 2016, ranking the state fourth in the nation. Coming on the heels of Gov. Tom Wolf’s declaration of the opioid crisis as a disaster emergency, Penn State recently held its first University-wide summit on the opioid epidemic.
The summit…
Murphy named distinguished faculty
Penn State's Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs has named 15 distinguished faculty.
The University's 2018 distinguished faculty are:
College of Agricultural Sciences
David A. Mortensen, professor of weed ecology
College of Arts and Architecture
Velvet Brown, professor of tuba…
Penn State researchers developing startup to help people in addiction recovery
A group of Penn State researchers is developing a system — WearIT — utilizing wearable devices as tools to help individuals battle addiction.
Their idea was the winner of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern Pennsylvania’s TechCelerator program, receiving $10,000 in December to…
Frankenberg named among RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings
PRI associate Erica Frankenberg was once again named among the 2018 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, identifying the university-based scholars in the U.S. who are doing the most to shape educational practice and policy.
Simply being included in this list of 200 scholars is an…
News from the Federal Statistical Research Data Center
The University of Pittsburgh has joined the Penn State Federal Statistical Research Data Center (FSRDC) consortium. The consortium includes Penn State, University of Pennsylvania, Drexel, Temple, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The institutions jointly oversee and fund the operation…
QuantDev Innovations Featured in The Journals of Gerontology
The Quantitative Developmental Systems Methodology Core (QuantDev) recently had several of their studies featured in December’s special issue of The Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences. This journal presents studies that advance methodology or understanding in areas…
Baby brains help them figure it out before they try it out
Babies often amaze their parents when they seemingly learn new skills overnight — how to walk, for example. But their brains were probably prepping for those tasks long before their first steps occurred, according to researchers.
Researchers are using new statistical analysis methods to compare how…
News coverage of Penn State's Summit on the Opioid Epidemic
The Penn State Summit on the Opioid Epidemic was held Friday, Jan. 12, at 122 at Heritage Hall in the HUB-Robeson Center on the University Park campus. The summit gathered faculty from across Penn State with the goal of developing an interdisciplinary and translational agenda aimed at combating the…
Global Programs updates travel grant applications evaluation criteria
Global Programs has revised evaluation criteria for their Faculty, Graduate, and Transformational travel grants applications, as well as introduced a new system for submitting application materials and trip reports. Applicants will now use Qualtrics, a popular survey program, to apply for travel…
New National Institutes of Health policies affect all researchers
If you hear “clinical trial” and think of a study looking at a cure for a disease, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) wants you to think again.
NIH is in the process of enhancing “the accountability and transparency of clinical research” through a number of new initiatives that impact…
Morgan's study named fourth most read in Educational Researcher
The American Educational Research Association (AERA) recently announced their most read education research articles of 2017. Paul Morgan, director of the Center for Educational Disparities Research and professor of education, and his research team had the fourth most read study in the publication…
SSRI RFA for opioid research
SSRI is providing funding to increase the quantity and quality of interdisciplinary opioid research by Penn State faculty. Proposals are invited for pilot research projects aimed at solving the opioid crisis.
We seek interdisciplinary Penn State teams to develop novel translational research…
Buxton quoted in Reader Digest article on sleep sounds
By Caitlin Reynolds
If you regularly struggle with insomnia, make sure you're aware of these easy fixes. And if you're trying to sleep in a loud environment, white noise might help you nod off more easily. A mixture of all sound frequencies at once, at the same level of intensity, white noise does…
Penn State to host summit on opioid epidemic
By Cassie Kizis | The Daily Collegian
Over the past decade, opioid abuse has become an increasingly prevalent issue in the United States. While there are a multitude of ways this issue can harm communities, perhaps the most visible way is the death toll.
According to the Center for Disease Control…
Penn State research center to host Annie E. Casey Diversity Program Scholars
The Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Penn State will host two postdoctoral researchers from the second cohort of the Annie E. Casey Foundation 2018 Leader Equitable Evaluation and Diversity (LEEAD) program.
The LEEAD program, launched by the Casey Foundation in 2016, was created to…
Penn State third in rankings for federal social and behavioral science funding
The Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) recently released the 2018 edition of their College and University Rankings for Federal Social and Behavioral R&D, which reports total federal research dollars in the social and behavioral sciences awarded to U.S. institutions.
Penn State…
Applications open for clinical and translational science training programs
Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute is accepting applications for both its year-long and summer training programs for students interested in learning the fundamentals of translational science. These programs work to teach the next generation of scientists the skills to move…
Preschool program to boost executive function leads to success in primary grades
A program to teach preschoolers pre-reading, social, and thinking skills appears to have benefits through third grade, particularly in executive functioning—the mental skills that include planning, paying attention, organizing, and remembering details, according to a study funded by the Eunice…
Why Puerto Rico’s death toll from Hurricane Maria is so much higher than officials thought
By PRI Associate Alexis Santos for The Conversation
“If you don’t get away from those areas, you are going to die.” That phrase concluded Puerto Rico Secretary of Public Safety Héctor Pesquera’s press conference before Hurricane Maria.
Three months after the storm, he is one of the fiercest…
Social science research team funded through Penn State's Strategic Plan
Dr. Susan McHale, SSRI director, and her research team was recently funded for a project to support Penn State's 2016-2020 Strategic Plan. Through an innovative new funding process, Penn State is investing $2 million in its top strategic priorities, while simultaneously advancing the vital and…
Why Social Science? - Because Social Science Fosters Robust and Trustworthy Knowledge
By Felice J. Levine, Ph.D., Executive Director, American Educational Research Association
As Chair of the COSSA Board, it is an honor to conclude the inaugural year of “Why Social Science?” with some reflections and aspirations. When COSSA launched this initiative in 2017, the aim was to invite…