‘PROSPER’ Program continues to respond to families’ educational needs

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions for Pennsylvanians, including the closing of schools and the interruption of other educational programs. Penn State’s PROmoting School-community-university Partnerships to Enhance Resilience (PROSPER) project is continuing to connect and engage…

Researchers to study impact of COVID-19 and social distancing on families

Since social distancing has been implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19, many families are experiencing high levels of stress and conflict — arguments and conflict between parents, between parents and children, and between siblings.
And though social distancing is a frequently used intervention…

Research information outlines Pennsylvania specifics related to COVID-19

Many Pennsylvania residents are facing an increased risk for severe symptoms of the novel coronavirus, while having limited access to medical services, and policy briefs from Penn State’s Pennsylvania Population Network (PPN) demonstrate why.
Raeven Chandler, assistant research professor and…

Why Social Science? Because Institutional Racism Exacerbates our Health and Economic Challenges

By Allison, Plyer, ScD, Chief Demographer, The Data Center of Southeast Louisiana
The COVID-19 epidemic is hitting African Americans particularly hard. As of this writing, 70% of all COVID-19 deaths in Louisiana are black residents in a state where only one-third of the population is black. To date…

Connell to study impacts of COVID-19 and child maltreatment

Many populations are impacted by the effects of COVID-19 and the crisis response, but children may be especially vulnerable to poor outcomes during this time.
Christian Connell, associate professor of human development and family studies and associate director of the Child Maltreatment Solutions…

Penn State researchers evaluating Twitter data during pandemic

By collecting global Twitter data from the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, Penn State researchers have developed a dashboard that tracks geotagged tweets to allow researchers and policymakers assess public reactions to the pandemic.
“Geotagged Twitter data provides significant opportunities to…

New guide curates COVID-19 related resources for researchers

Penn State University Libraries has developed a curated guide to COVID-19 related resources for researchers, including ongoing research at Penn State.
A collaboration between the Libraries’ STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) experts at University Park and the Harrell Health…

Grief from COVID-19 impact may trigger secondary health and mental health crisis

The loss of life caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic may just be the first tragic wave to hit the country, according to researchers. Grief from the deaths of close relatives and a sudden loss of support could create serious health, mental health and economic issues for grieving family members…

Dean's Lecture Series: Perspectives on the Pandemic announced

The College of Health and Human Development has announced the Dean’s Lecture Series: Perspectives on the Pandemic, which seeks to help better understand the COVID-19 pandemic from a public health perspective.
The lectures, to be held virtually, will feature leading national and international…

RemoteResearch.psu.edu supports investigators transitioning to remote work

The office of the Associate Chief Information Officer for Research has created a new resource at RemoteResearch.psu.eduto support investigators as they transition their research to primarily off-site from primarily on-site.
Associate CIO for Research Greg Madden and his team created the site to…

Social scientists scramble to study pandemic, in real time

By Warren Cornwall for Science Magazine
If pandemic lockdowns have people feeling a bit like lab rats stuck in cages, in some ways that’s exactly what they are.
As the coronavirus touches on virtually every part of life around the globe, social scientists are rushing to suck up real-time data on…

Population researchers contribute to special newsletter on COVID-19 topics

The work of applied demographers and population research scientists addressing the COVID1-19 pandemic is the focus a special issue of “Applied Demography,” the official publication of the Population Association of America (PAA).
According to editor Alexis Santos, assistant professor of human…

Podcast episode explores how the Census impacts public health

Decisions about where to build hospitals and how to allocate emergency medical equipment are critical during a pandemic, and driven by a source you might not expect. This week’s episode of the Democracy Works podcast, produced by the McCourtney Institute for Democracy and WPSU, examines the role…

Resources for military-connected schools

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced schools and families to adapt quickly and many resources are being created for school personnel and parents who have been thrust into new roles.

Since the amount of information can be overwhelming, Schools Empowering At-Risk Students (SEAS) project with the…

Penn State University Press makes e-titles available during COVID-19 pandemic

Penn State University Press is among a select group of college and university presses nationwide to partner with EBSCO Information Services to provide unlimited access to Press e-books for library clients through the EBSCO platform until June 30. The Press also is offering discounted pricing to…

Online dashboard enables COVID-19 tracking by Pennsylvania county

Residents of Pennsylvania can monitor the spread of COVID-19 across the commonwealth with an online dashboard created by researchers at Penn State. The dashboard, which has been available since March 12, provides a map of the state with the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases represented by county.…

Stuck at Home (Together)

The Foundation for Art & Healing’s campaign to foster and maintain social connectivity during periods of COVID-19 related physical isolation 
To address emotional distress caused by the unprecedented public health demands to establish physical isolation in response to the COVID-19…

COVID-19 and RPC: Connecting Policymakers and Researchers for Children and Families

The Research to Policy Collaboration is actively collecting and disseminating research-informed solutions and resources on the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on children and families to federal staff and legislators. You can visit our COVID page and review the first issue of our weekly…

Why Social Science? - Because Money Makes The World Go ’Round

By Bill Maurer, PhD, Dean, School of Social Sciences, University of California, Irvine
I often get asked questions like, “What is an anthropologist like you doing studying money? I thought that was the domain of economists!” The archaeological and ethnographic record is full of objects, texts, and…

COSSA compiles social science resources related to COVID-19

COSSA is compiling a list of resources for social scientists and stakeholders related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The list includes guidance from federal science agencies, collections of publicly available peer-reviewed research related to the crisis, resources from COSSA member associations, and…

Influenza Pandemics and COVID-19

In response to COVID-19, Dr. Hui Yang, the site director of CHOT at Penn State, created a video to compare the influenza pandemics and COVID-19. In this challenging time, one way to reduce anxiety and stress is a better understanding of influenza pandemics. This video will answer the following…

PPN Brief on COVID19 and the aging population in PA

New from the Pennsylvania Population Network (PPN) is the PPN Brief "COVID19 & The Commonwealth: Vulnerable Populations in Pennsylvania: Aging". Key findings include:

Median Age of PA is 40.7 with 23.7% of the state being 60 Plus
11 counties report having zero ICU beds, seven of which are…

Applied Demography Special Issue on COVID1-19

The work of applied demographers and population research scientists addressing the COVID1-19 pandemic is the focus a special issue of Applied Demography, the official publication of the Population Association of America. The editorial was written by SSRI cofunded faculty member Alexis Santos, while…

Research-to-Policy Collaboration awarded funding through the Coronavirus Research Seed Fund

In response to the expanding COVID-19 crisis, Penn State’s research community launched an initiative called the Coronavirus Research Seed Fund (CRSF) to “support research with the potential for significant and rapid impact on human health with respect to the disease (COVID-19) and the causal virus…

Coronavirus Research Seed Fund

Due to unprecedented interest in the Coronavirus Research Seed Fund, there will only be one more round of proposal evaluation. To give all applicants sufficient time to apply, that final review will begin on Friday, March 27th at 5 p.m. All applications submitted between now and then will be…