Research Interests

Tenure-track faculty

Paula Allen-Meares , Dean and Norma Radin Collegiate Professor of Social Work and Professor of Education
Research Interests: Schools, adolescents, parenting.
Kimberly Bender , Assistant Professor
  Research Interests: Adolescent mental health and substance abuse, prevention and intervention for youth problem behavior, co-occurring disorders
Louis (Lou) Burgio , Harold R. Johnson Professor of Social Work
Letha Chadiha , Associate Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Family caregiving involving older African Americans
Linda Chatters , Professor of Public Health and Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Religious involvement and well-being, social support networks of adult/elderly African Americans, intergenerational family relations, families and health.
Barry Checkoway , Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Community organization, social planning, neighborhood development.
Sandra (Sandy) Danziger , Professor of Social Work and Reserach Professor of Public Policy
Research Interests: Child, adolescent, and family policies and programs, effects of welfare reform.
Jorge Delva , Associate Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Prevention and treatment of chemical dependency, drug epidemiology, program evaluation, survey research, cross-cultural and cross-national research, the use of multilevel statistics to study individual and contextual level variables.
Ruth Dunkle , Wilbur J. Cohen Collegiate Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Clinical gerontology, service delivery to the elderly, the oldest old, coping and service deliver strategies for the elderly, racial and ethnic variations in caregiving to the elderly.
Kathleen Faller , Marion Elizabeth Blue Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Child welfare, child abuse/neglect, sexual abuse.
Dale Fitch , Assistant Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Mental health, child abuse, information technology, systems theory, community practice, administration and policy.
Briggett Ford , Assistant Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: African-American families, mental health, violence, DSM-IV.
Larry Gant , Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Program evaluation, African American populations, HIV/AIDS intervention research.
Elizabeth (Liz) Gershoff , Assistant Professor of Social Work and Research Assistant Professor, CHGD
Research Interests: Child poverty, community violence, youth violence, neighborhoods, school-based violence prevention, parenting impacts on child behavior.
Andrew (Andy) Grogan-Kaylor , Assistant Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Poverty, neighborhoods, parenting, child well-being.
Lorraine Gutierrez , Director of Academic Programs, Professor of Social Work and Professor of Psychology
Research Interests: Empowerment-oppressed groups, mental health, Latinos.
Joseph (Joe) Himle , Assistant Professor of Social Work and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Research Interests: Mental health, anxiety, depression, psycosocial interventions, cognitive-behavioral therapy, interface between neurobiology and psychosocial interventions in mental health.
Leslie Hollingsworth , Associate Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: African American families, child welfare, adoption, foster care.
Berit Ingersoll-Dayton , Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Social support of families in later life, employed caregivers, cross-cultural gerontology.
Srinika (Siri) Jayaratne , Associate Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs and Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Work stress, professional practice, client violence towards social workers, human service prevention programs.
Sean Joe , Assistant Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Self-destructive behaviors, including suicidal behavior, community organizing, positive youth development
Edith (Edie) Kieffer , Associate Professor of Social Work and Research Associate Professor
Research Interests: Ethnic and geographic disparities in health, including maternal and child health, obesity and diabetes, and multi-level community-based intervention research related to supply and demand for healthy food access and use, and promotion of regular physical a
Sherrie Kossoudji , Associate Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Immigrant work lives, labor market inequalities, migrant worker opportunities, gender economics.
Edith (Edie) Lewis , Associate Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Culturally competent practice, empowerment, women and families of color, international practice.
Lydia Li , Associate Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Family caregiving, community-based long-term care, social support, elder suicide, cross-cultural gerontology
Robert Ortega , Associate Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Child welfare, juvenile justice, serious mental illness.
Daphna Oyserman , Edwin J. Thomas Collegiate Professor of Social Work, Professor of Psychology and Research Professor
Research Interests: Culture, race, stigma, prevention, identity, adolescence, cognition, motivation.
Julia Paley , Assistant Professor of Social Work and Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Research Interests: Political anthropology, urban studies, urban neighborhoods, ethnicity, ethnographic methodology.
Janice (Janie) Paul , Assistant Professor of Art and Assistant Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Prison art, integrated arts curricula in urban schools, university community partnerships in the arts, art programming in community development, perceptual development and children's art.
Brian Perron , Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Community mental health, treatment processes, service access and utilization, evidence-based practices.
Thomas (Tom) Powell , Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Mental health policies, self-help and community-based support systems.
Beth Reed , Associate Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Gender/ethnicity in social systems, feminist/multicultural practice, alcohol/drugs.
Michael Reisch , Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Social policy, community organization, history and philosophy of social welfare.
Lawrence (Larry) Root , Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Social welfare/employment, employee assistance plans, workplace education.
Mary Ruffolo , Associate Dean for Educational Programs and Associate Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Intersection of mental health interventions with children, adolescents and their families.
Daniel (Dan) Saunders , Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Domestic and dating violence, direct practice, program evaluation.
Brett Seabury , Associate Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Interpersonal practice, radical critique, indigenous healing systems.
H. Luke (Luke) Shaefer , Assistant Professor
  Research Interests: Disadvantaged working families and U.S. social policy; nonprofit management; human service organizations in public policy.
Trina Shanks , Assistant Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Poverty, wealth and child well-being, intergenerational economic inequality, family policies and programs.
Kristine (Kris) Siefert , Edith S. Gomberg Collegiate Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Women's health, mental health, maternal and child health, prevention.
Michael (Mike) Spencer , Associate Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Disparities in Health and Mental Health Service Use, Communities, Social Justice Education
Karen Staller , Assistant Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Runaway and homeless youth, law, social problem construction, history of social welfare, qualitative research methods.
Robert Joseph (Robert) Taylor , Associate Dean for Research and Sheila Feld Collegiate Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Informal social support networks of adult/elderly African Americans.
Richard (Rich) Tolman , Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Group work and family violence, interpersonal practice.
John Tropman , Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Decision-making systems, social welfare policy, disadvantaged groups, management of human service organizations, executive burnout, organizational reward systems.
David Tucker , Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Organizational demography, organizational change, dynamic modeling of changes processes, knowledge development and production.
Diane Vinokur , Associate Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Nonprofit management, human service workplaces, collaboration between organizations and sectors.
Michael Woodford , Assistant Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Participatory policy analysis, organizational management and change, inclusion of vulnerable communities in HIV/AIDS prevention, community organizing, qualitative methodology.
Mieko Yoshihama , Associate Professor of Social Work
  Research Interests: Violence against women/immigrants, race, culture, class, mental health.

Non-tenure-track faculty
Susan McDonough, Associate Research Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Children's mental health, preventive interventions.
Julie Ribaudo, Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Infant Mental Health; post-institutionalized children; attachment patterns and school outcomes.
Katherine (Katie) Richards-Schuster, Assistant Research Scientist
Research Interests: Youth participation, community organization, neighborhood development, social planning, public policy and community-based advocacy, and community-based participatory evaluation and research.
Beth Sherman, Clinical Assistant Professor
Research Interests: children and youth, school social work, prevention, and early intervention.
Jose Tapia Granados, Assistant Research Scientist and LEO Adjunct Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Impact of economic fluctuations on mortality, intersections between demography, economic history, economic theory and epidemiology, pathways leading from working and living conditions to changes in mortality
Elizabeth (Betsy) Voshel, Director of Field Program and Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Field instruction, field instructor training, social work ethics, safety preparation for social workers, interdisciplinary collaboration, case management
Kathleen Wade, Assistant Dean of Hospital Social Work Services and Research Assistant Professor of Social Work
Research Interests: Clinical social work, social work in health care.
Frank Zinn, Director, Office of Global Activities
Research Interests: Leadership in professional practice, globalization of professional education, information technology for management, planning and development