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, LMSW, 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
Faculty & Research
09/05
Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) among partner schools for Penn Center on Media, Technology, and Democracy
The University of Pennsylvania today announced $10 million in funding dedicated to its new Center for Media, Technology, and Democracy. The Center will be housed in the Penn School of Engineering and Applied Science (Penn Engineering) and will operate in partnership with five other schools at Penn, including SP2.
Faculty & Research
02/08
First-of-its-kind study analyzes digital mourning practices of gang-affiliated youth
A new paper co-written by SP2’s Dr. Desmond Patton explores the role of images in the online grieving practices of gang-affiliated Black youth. Due to his groundbreaking body of research, Dr. Patton was one of 13 participants invited to the White House last week.
Faculty & Research
11/20
Two SAFELab researchers named to faculty of SP2
Dr. Aviv Landau and Dr. Siva Mathiyazhagan are being appointed research assistant professors at SP2. The two researchers have been affiliated with Penn since 2022, when they relocated to the University as members of SAFELab.