Partnerships

Jennie Noll

Jennie G. Noll, Ph.D., is a professor of Human Development and Family Studies, Director of the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network, and Principle Investigator of the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development P50 Capstone Center for Healthy Children.

Deanna Hoelscher

Deanna M. Hoelscher, Ph.D., R.D., L.D., C.N.S., is the John P. McGovern Professor in Health Promotion & Behavioral Sciences, founding Director of the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, and Assoc. Regional Dean for Research at UTHealth School of Public Health in Austin.

Francesca Lopez

Francesca López, PhD is the Waterbury Chair in Equity Pedagogy at Penn State University, College of Education, Curriculum and Instruction Department.

Family Impact Institute

Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth

Shelley M. MacDermid Wadsworth, PhD. Dr. MacDermid Wadsworth is a Distinguished Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Purdue University, where she directs the Center for Families, as well as the Military Family Research Institute, which she co-founded.

Karen Bogenschneider

Karen Bogenschneider is a Rothermel-Bascom Professor of Human Ecology and a Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She is also a Family Policy Specialist for the University of Wisconsin–Extension.

“The RPC has afforded us with national recognition for child maltreatment prevention research by facilitating many direct connections with legislative officials as well as facilitating the policy activities of a broader network of national experts in this area. With their support, we have observed state-level legislative change pertaining to child maltreatment data.

They also organized a congressional briefing related to national law that subsequently led to our being invited to testify at a congressional hearing as well as being asked to review drafted legislation. Importantly, they have helped us to navigate our role as scientists without lobbying, which is prohibited by federal funders. As such, we have provided technical assistance to legislative officials per request rather than advocating for specific legislative change. 

This service has been of tremendous value for our research center to be able to navigate policy efforts and relationships so that we can more effectively bridge research and policy.”

-Jennie Noll, Child Maltreatment Solutions Network

“It is designed to encourage bi-directional communication between state-level legislators and researchers. The goal of the Texas RPC Project is to foster trusted relationships between policymakers and researchers to increase flow of evidence-based information influencing policies at the state level.

The partnership with RPC consultants has enabled the TX RPC Project team to establish rapport with 19 matched researcher-legislator pairs and led to the development of 18 evidence-based resources in response to requests from the legislators to support policy planning for the 87th legislative session. Their support also helped to train researchers in the Texas Rapid Response Network, advise on communication strategies, and frame resources with bipartisan messaging.

In helping us to launch a state-level RPC project, the federal RPC team has provided us with a strong theoretical framework to complement our background in public health. Our TX RPC project continues to grow in influence, thanks to the partnership and collaborations with Penn State.”

-Deanna Hoelscher, Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living

Our Affiliates

Center for Violence Prevention

Jeff Temple

Jeff Temple is a professor, licensed psychologist, and Director of the Center for Violence Prevention at the University of Texas Medical Branch. His research focuses on interpersonal relationships, with a particular focus on adolescent relationship abuse. His work has been funded by the National Institute of Justice, National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health. 

Shannon Guillot-Wright

Her program of research focuses on structural violence, with an emphasis on occupational health equity and evidence use in policymaking. She is particularly interested in understanding power, influence, and social change. Her research methodology is ethnographic, including photovoice and digital storytelling. Dr. Guillot-Wright is currently working with migrant fishers in the Gulf Coast, studying how social, structural, and political economic factors influence health.

Center for American Entrepreneurship

The Center for American Entrepreneurship (CAE) is a nonpartisan, Washington, DC-based 501(c)(3) research, policy, and advocacy organization established in July of 2017. CAE’s mission is to engage policymakers in Washington and across the nation regarding the critical importance of entrepreneurs and startups to innovation, economic growth, job creation, and expanding opportunity – and to pursue a comprehensive policy agenda intended to achieve a stronger, more resilient, and inclusive U.S. economy through thriving entrepreneurship.

Child Maltreatment Solutions Network

The Network’s research efforts focus on the causes, prevention, detection, consequences, and treatment of child abuse and neglect. The Network is dedicated to improving the well­being of children, youth and families, while expanding Penn State’s internationally recognized expertise in research, practice and education. They provide opportunities and support for collaborative and translational science in order to address the complex problems of child maltreatment. Their work covers the spectrum, ranging from research on child development and clinical treatments that foster child health to public policy that promotes child safety and well­being. 

Child Trends

Elizabeth Jordan

Elizabeth Jordan works across the organization to identify and strengthen connections with end-users of Child Trends research, ensuring that the work reaches these users in ways that are understandable and actionable. Beth also directs several projects across the child welfare, early childhood, and youth development research areas that explore how policies can support or raise challenges for vulnerable children and their families. For example, she leads technical assistance to help state and local organizations use research in their policy outreach efforts. Beth also co-leads a project to better understand ways in which juvenile justice judges incorporate research into their decision making.

Itzhak Yanovitzky

Itzhak Yanovitzky is an expert in the areas of strategic health communication (persuasion, social marketing, and campaigns), behavior change, and program evaluation. Much of his current research work is focused on enhancing the capacity of individuals and communities to acquire and use the information, tools, and resources they need to initiate, implement and support sustainable change (whether individual or social). 

Matthew Weber

Matthew’s research examines organizational change in relation to the use of new information communication technologies. He examines organizations from both an internal and external perspective, focusing on the interaction between macro- and micro-level changes. He has studied organizations in a variety of contexts, including an examination of transformation of the news media industry in the United States, an analysis of local newspaper ecosystems, research on technology use in large multinational organizations, and work on social movements.

Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living

The Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living works to advance health and healthy living for children and families through cutting-edge research, innovative community-based programs, and dissemination of evidence-based practices. The Center is comprised of 29 School of Public Health faculty who focus on behavior change, epidemiology, health economics, and biostatistics. The Center is dedicated to new discoveries in child and family health, with current programmatic foci on obesity prevention, nutrition, physical activity, and tobacco use. The Center also provides professional education and community service through student training opportunities and by hosting community and scientific forums. 

National Prevention Science Coalition

Guided by science, the National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives envisions a society that fosters nurturing environments and caring relationships for the well-being of all. Their mission is to prevent social ills and promote wellbeing by translating scientific knowledge into effective and sustainable practices, systems and policies.

Urban Health Collaborative

Jonathan Purtle

Jonathan Purtle is a policy dissemination and implementation researcher who focuses on issues related to mental health and health equity. His research uses theories and methods from the social sciences to understand how scientific evidence can be most effectively communicated to policymakers and translated into practice.