Rebecca S. Pepe, MPH

Becca is a PhD student in the Social Welfare program interested in the role of housing in health. Specifically, she uses mixed methods to understand the individual and neighborhood effects of housing insecurity as it relates to utility disconnections. Her current work seeks to uncover the role of water utility protections on the physical and psychological health of residents in Philadelphia. Becca works as an Analytic Fellow for the City of Philadelphia’s Integrated Data System and is particularly interested in the ethical use of data and best practices for cross-sector data sharing and integration.

Becca received her undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton studying Biological Anthropology and Psychology. Upon graduation, Becca attended the Yale School of Public Health and earned her Master’s in Public Health, focusing on Social and Behavioral Sciences. Becca moved to Philadelphia in 2016 to begin working at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine. Here, she supported several studies using behavioral economics to understand and promote the delivery of guideline-concordant clinical care. Prior to coming to the School of Social Policy and Practice, Becca worked at Elevance Health’s (formerly Anthem) research subsidiary, managing projects using claims data to answer questions related to health economics, safety, and epidemiological outcomes.

Becca lives in the Manayunk neighborhood with her husband and rescue dog named Maeby. She loves going on walks in the Wissahickon, dancing, and trying new vegetarian dishes.