Jennifer Scott

Jennifer Scott serves as Associate Research Professor at Penn State's Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center within the College of Health and Human Development. Her work bridges academic research and policymaking through the Research-to-Policy Collaboration model, with active federal and state-level engagements documented through 2025.

Her research focuses on evidence-based policy translation, particularly in child and family wellbeing, health equity, and opioid epidemic response. Key areas include legislative engagement strategies, research dissemination effectiveness, and systemic bias reduction in healthcare processes. The work directly contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals through population health improvement initiatives.

Recent publications demonstrate growing influence in policy translation science, with 2024-2025 outputs examining climate change communication, Texas state policy implementation, and federal staffer relationship dynamics. Her research employs mixed-methods approaches including randomized controlled trials.

• W.T. Grant Foundation funding for Research-to-Policy Collaboration evaluation
• h-index 10 (Scopus)

As co-investigator of the Research-to-Policy Collaboration evaluation and developer of electronic dissemination strategies, she maintains active partnerships with legislators and community stakeholders. Current projects include improving research reflection in legislative language and optimizing researcher-legislator engagement frameworks.