Taylor Scott

Taylor Bishop Scott is an Assistant Research Professor in the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center and the Co-Director of the Research-to-Policy Collaboration (RPC). She obtained a doctorate in community psychology from the Health Psychology Program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research interests include broad-based promotion of well-being and success among at-risk children via community-based programs and public policy. Her research aims to understand ways to support policymakers’ use of research evidence.  

Since 2015, Dr. Scott has worked to develop and evaluate the Research-to-Policy Collaboration, a replicable model that aims to support policymakers’ use of research by preparing and mobilizing researchers’ response to current policy priorities and opportunities. She guides RPC implementation activities that aim to facilitate researcher-legislative partnerships around child and family policy issues. She also investigates: (1) the impact of interactions between researchers and policymakers and (2) ways to improve science communication and its impact. These two interests correspond with the theory that improving research use involves multi-modal, integrated strategies that both increase the reach and visibility of scientific information as well as the co-interpretation of research implications in partnership with decision-makers. Dr. Scott also provides mentorship and policy training for a national team of postdoctoral scholars and research fellows.

Prevention-related Projects

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  Testing Research Strategies and Impact among Policymakers to Reduce Inequalities Precipitated by COVID-19

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  Testing Science Communication Strategies and Impact among Policymakers During a National Crisis

Lawmakers' use of scientific evidence can be improved

Crowley, D. M., Scott, J. T., Long, E. C., Green, L., Israel, A., Supplee, L., Jordan, E., Oliver, K., Guillot-Wright, S., Gay, B., Storace, R., Torres-Mackie, N., Murphy, Y., Donnay, S., Reardanz, J., Smith, R., McGuire, K., Baker, E., Antonopoulos, A., McCauley, M. & Giray, C. (2021). Lawmakers’ use of scientific evidence can be improved. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(9), e2012955118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2012955118

Translating prevention research for evidence-based policymaking: Results from the Research-to-Policy Collaboration pilot

Crowley, D. M., Scott, T., & Fishbein, D. (2017). Translating prevention research for evidence-based policymaking: Results from the Research-to-Policy Collaboration pilot. Prevention Science, 19(2), 260–270. PMCID: PMC5803346

Bringing rigor to the use of evidence in policymaking: Translating early evidence

Crowley, D. M., & Scott, T. (2017). Bringing rigor to the use of evidence in policymaking:  Translating early evidence. Public Administration Review, 77(5), 650–655. https://doi.org/10.1111.puar.12830

June 03, 2021

SPR 'Abstract of Distinction' award goes to Research-to-Policy Collaborative

A symposium organized by Assistant Research Professor and Co-Director of the Research-to-Policy Collaborative (RPC) Taylor Scott won an 'Abstract of Distinction' Award at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Society for Prevention Research (SPR) held June 2-4.

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February 22, 2021

Helping Congress get the most from research

Research-to-Policy Co-Directors Max Crowley and Taylor Scott are quoted in this Penn State News story.

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January 20, 2021

Despite advances, behavioral health legislation still lags behind

Max Crowley, Director of the Evidence-to-Impact Collaborative (EIC), and Taylor Scott, Co-Director of the EIC, are quoted in this story from Penn State News.

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September 08, 2020

NSF funding to bolster research communication strategies project

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s Research-to-Policy Collaboration (RPC) is expanding a project to better respond to legislators’ needs for social and behavioral research related to the coronavirus pandemic with new funding from the National Science Foundation.

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June 10, 2020

Bridging Research and Policy During a Pandemic: Adjusting social science’s policy strategies in response to COVID-19

From a blog post written by Taylor Scott and Cagla Giray for the COVID-19 "Expert Insights" blog hosted by the Social Science Research Institute at Penn State.

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September 26, 2018

New behavioral intervention aims to improve research-to-policy translation

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Max Crowley, assistant professor of human development and family studies and director of the Penn State Administrative Data Accelerator, has received a $500,000 award from the William T. Grant Foundation to evaluate the impact of behavioral intervention for increasing collaboration between researchers and congressional offices.

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May 15, 2018

Penn State delegation advocates for social sciences in Washington, DC

A group of Penn State researchers recently attended the Consortium of Social Science Association’s (COSSA) 2018 Science Policy Conference and Social Science Advocacy Day in Washington, DC.

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