Deborah Ehrenthal

Deborah Ehrenthal is a Professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Health at The Pennsylvania State University and serves as Director of the Social Science Research Institute (SSRI). Her research leverages large administrative datasets to investigate maternal and child health outcomes, with particular focus on prenatal opioid exposure, birth complications, and healthcare system interactions within Medicaid populations.

Her primary research spans maternal and child health epidemiology, utilizing Wisconsin Medicaid data (2010-2019) to examine opioid exposure trajectories, neonatal abstinence syndrome, infant mortality, and spillover effects on sibling development. She investigates modifiable factors like treatment continuity and prenatal care coordination, while addressing health disparities through implementation science frameworks. Her work bridges clinical outcomes with social determinants of health, emphasizing policy-relevant findings for vulnerable populations.

Recent publications (2022-2025) reveal consistent focus on opioid-related pregnancy outcomes, demonstrating how exposure timing/duration affects neonatal withdrawal and child welfare involvement. She pioneers analyses of Medicaid enrollment gaps across pregnancy stages and explores broader implications like metabolic syndrome risks following adverse birth outcomes, while extending research into pandemic-era community health responses.

Scientific Awards:

• Lloyd Prize for Innovative Health Research (2025)

Dr. Ehrenthal's research program is sustained through federal and state grants supporting large-scale data analysis of Medicaid populations, though specific funding mechanisms aren't detailed in current profiles. As Professor and SSRI Director, she mentors graduate students in biobehavioral health and public health, supervising research on substance use disorders and implementation science. Her leadership cultivates interdisciplinary collaboration across Penn State's research ecosystem.

As Director of SSRI, she spearheads initiatives including the Climate, Society, and Health program launched in November 2023. She leads cross-institutional teams analyzing Wisconsin administrative data, with strong partnerships in public health departments and medical schools. Her work integrates epidemiological methods with health services research to address the opioid epidemic's impact on maternal-child health systems.