As Pennsylvania has responded to the opioid crisis, Dennis Scanlon, director of the Center for Health Care and Policy Research and Distinguished Professor of Health Policy and Administration, has worked with the Commonwealth to quantify the harms of the epidemic and help plan the state’s response.
Childhood obesity affects one in six American children. Penn State’s Center for Childhood Obesity Research partners with Head Start programs to help children learn to regulate their eating behavior.
The Speech, Language, and Hearing Clinic has always served the community, but it also contributes to Penn State’s research and educational missions. The research and education conducted through the clinic have, in turn, improved the services available to the public.
Asher Rosinger works to understand how humans meet their water needs and how this relates to health, the environment, and more. He has received extensive media coverage and professional recognition for this work.
Penn State researchers are working to protect children from sexual abuse. Facilitators have educated hundreds of parents and thousands of children across Pennsylvania using the ‘Smarter Parents, Safer Kids’ and ‘Safe Touches’ programs. Learn how to help keep children safe from abuse.
For some abused children, trauma is embedded throughout their lives, while others do not experience negative health outcomes. New research from Human Development and Family Studies examines how childhood sexual abuse does—or does not—impact the hormone cortisol in adults.
Research led by Penn State’s Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management shows that 20 percent of Americans began regularly participating in outdoor recreation during the COVID-19 pandemic, while 13 percent of Americans stopped.
Parks offer space for physical activity, enjoyment of nature, connection with other people, and wildlife habitat. Andrew Mowen of recreation, park, and tourism management examines how parks can also help address social and racial inequities.
Twenty-eight percent of two- to four-year-olds in Pennsylvania have overweight or obesity. Learn how researchers in Penn State’s Center for Childhood Obesity Research teach parents the skills to help their children maintain a healthy weight.
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