Susan B. Sorenson is a professor of social policy, and of health and societies, at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. She is also a senior fellow in public health, director of the PhD program in social welfare, and director of the Evelyn Jacobs Ortner Center there. She is known for studying

gun violence Gun-related violence is violence against a person committed with the use of a firearm to inflict a gunshot wound. Gun violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable ...

from a

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

and

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

perspective, and she has argued for increasing the availability of data to researchers regarding this subject. By July 2018, Soren's 1988 paper analyzing the epidemiology of

obsessive–compulsive disorder Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder in which an individual has intrusive thoughts (an ''obsession'') and feels the need to perform certain routines (''Compulsive behavior, compulsions'') repeatedly to relieve the dis ...

in five different communities was the third most cited paper on the disorder.

Education

Sorenson received her B.S. in sociology and psychology from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

, her M.S. in psychology from the

Illinois Institute of Technology The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...

, and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

. Subsequently, she was a post-doctoral scholar in

psychiatric epidemiology Psychiatric epidemiology is a field which studies the causes (etiology) of mental disorders in society, as well as conceptualization and prevalence of mental illness. It is a subfield of the more general epidemiology. It has roots in sociological s ...

at the

UCLA School of Public Health The UCLA Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health is the graduate school of public health at UCLA, and is located within the Center for Health Sciences building on UCLA's campus in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. ...

Awards and honors

Sorenson was appointed a fellow of the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world. It has over 170,000 members, including scientists, educators, clin ...

Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Founded in 1936, the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) is a group of 3,000 scientists from psychology and related fields who share a common interest in research on the psychological aspects of important social and policy i ...

in 2007. She received the Bridge of Courage Award from Women Organized Against Rape in 2014.

References

External links

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Faculty page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorenson, Susan B. University of Pennsylvania faculty Living people Gun violence researchers American sociologists American women sociologists American women epidemiologists American epidemiologists Iowa State University alumni Illinois Institute of Technology alumni University of Cincinnati alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women Obsessive–compulsive disorder researchers