Jennifer Frank

Jennifer Frank serves as an Associate Professor at The Pennsylvania State University and is affiliated with the Prevention Research Center (PRC). Her work focuses on developing and evaluating school-based prevention practices that modify the social ecology of risk (encompassing school, family, peer, and individual factors) to address high-incidence disabilities in educational settings.

Her research spans critical areas including school-based prevention, positive behavior supports, innovative statistical and experimental methods for validating evidence-based interventions, social-emotional learning, and mindfulness-based interventions. Dr. Frank employs interdisciplinary approaches to understand risk and resilience determinants, with the ultimate goal of creating sustainable optimal social contexts that support academic learning in real-world schools.

Dr. Frank actively prepares the next generation of school-based professionals and leads multiple significant research projects funded through grants:

• Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE) for Special Educators
• Project RESPECT: Teacher training program for emotionally supportive and positive student interactions
• Longitudinal Effectiveness of Communities That Care on Reducing Youth Risk Factors
• Learning to BREATHE: Promoting adolescent well-being through emotion regulation skills
• Rural Child Literacy Trajectories (Family Life Project)
• Stress, Self-regulation, and Psychopathology in Middle Childhood (Family Life Project)

Her research is conducted within the collaborative framework of the Prevention Research Center, which serves as her primary research environment and team structure for advancing prevention science.