Areas of research
Data-Driven Policy Analysis & Evidence-Based Practice
SP2’s Initiatives and Faculty use administrative data, systematic reviews, and meta-analysis to inform the future of social innovation and social policy.
Featured Centers
Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy
FEATURED FACULTY
Jacqueline Corcoran, PhD
Professor; PhD, University of Texas at Austin, 1996. Mental health; clinical social work; evidence-based practice in social work; systematic reviews, meta-analysis, and meta-synthesis; strengths-based models.
FEATURED FACULTY
Dennis P. Culhane, PhD
Professor; PhD, Boston College, 1990. Homelessness; housing policy; policy analysis research methods.
FEATURED FACULTY
Abigail (Abby) M. Ross, LICSW, MPH, PhD
Associate Professor; PhD, Boston University. Intervention research, implementation science, mental health, interprofessional practice, public health social work, youth suicide prevention, social care integration, evidence-based practice.
FEATURED FACULTY
Millan AbiNader, MSW, PhD
Assistant Professor; PhD, Boston University. Gender-based violence; intimate partner violence; intimate partner homicide; rural communities; community-level risk; vicarious trauma.
FEATURED FACULTY
ChiaKo Hung, MA, MPA, PhD
Assistant Professor; PhD, Arizona State University. Nonprofit financial management, social entrepreneurship, philanthropy, fundraising management, collaborative governance, social equity, social impact.
FEATURED FACULTY
DeMarcus A. Jenkins, PhD
Assistant Professor; PhD, University of California, Los Angeles. Education policy, housing policy, criminal/juvenile justice, school safety & discipline, gentrification, anti-Black racism, Critical Race Theory, social movements.
FEATURED FACULTY
R. Jisung Park, PhD
Assistant Professor; PhD, Harvard University. Environmental economics; labor economics; climate change; economic inequality; policy evaluation.
FEATURED FACULTY
Alice Xu, PhD
Assistant Professor; PhD, Harvard University. Inequality and social policy, urban and distributive politics, environmental politics, quantitative and spatial methods, Latin America, Global South.
Related News
Student Life
03/04
Blending empathy & analytics: A Q&A with MSSP+DA student Nature Hu
In this Q&A, MSSP+DA student Nature Hu reflects on what brought her to social policy work, her favorite SP2 course, and where she hopes to make a difference next.
Faculty & Research
02/16
Alice Xu receives Best Dissertation Award from American Political Science Association
Dr. Alice Xu, assistant professor at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2), has received the 2025 Mancur Olson Best Dissertation Award by the American Political Science Association (APSA).
Faculty & Research
01/09
SP2 at SSWR 2026: Leading for Transformative Change
Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) is proud to participate in the 30th Annual Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) Conference, taking place January 14 –18, 2026, in Washington, D.C.