Jean J. Schensul, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist & Founding Director
Institute for Community Research
860-278-2044 ext. 227
jean.schensul@icrweb.org

Jean J. Schensul, Ph.D., is a medical anthropologist with over 20 years of experience in the conduct of HIV prevention and other health-related research in urban areas of the United States and in developing countries. Her areas of expertise include research methods, drug research, sexuality and HIV, and school and community based structural approaches to intervention. Publications include The Ethnographer's Toolkit, a seven book boxed series on ethnographic research methods, published by Altamira Press, "Applied Research Methods" (Trotter and Schensul) in the Handbook of Ethnographic Methods, edited by H. Russell Bernard, Altamira Press, and numerous articles on community based intervention methods, adolescent sexuality, adolescent marijuana use, and research collaborations. She is an associate editor of CES4Health.info, an online resource for publishing diverse products of community-engaged scholarship.

Dr. Schensul is on the editorial board of Medical Anthropology Quarterly, scientific advisory board of the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (CICATS), and past president of the Society for Applied Anthropology. She is recipient of the 2010 Bronislaw Malinowski Award from the Society for Applied Anthropology and recipient with Stephen Schensul of the Solon T. Kimball award from the American Anthropological Association for application of anthropology to policy. She has founded or co-founded four successful health social science research institutes, in the United States (The Institute for Community Research and the Hispanic Health Council), Peru (Instituto Nacional de Salud Comunitaria) and Sri Lanka (Center for Intersectoral Community Health Studies). She has been responsible for a number of federal, state and foundation funded studies and intervention projects, and is currently the principal investigator on an NIH-funded HIV and drug related grant and Community Engagment Co-Core Director of CICATS.

Education
1963 B.A., Anthropology University of Manitoba, Canada
1967 M.A., Anthropology/Linguistics University of Minnesota
1974 Ph.D., Cultural Anthropology University of Minnesota

Professional History
1971-1974
Research Scientist, Institute for Juvenile Research, Chicago IL
1976 -1978
Program Evaluator, Center for New Schools, Chicago IL
1978 -1987
Research/Associate Director, Hispanic Health Council, Hartford CT
1987 - 2004
Founder/Executive Director, The Institute for Community Research, Hartford CT

2004 - present         

Senior Scientist, The Institute for Community Research, Hartford, CT

Teaching Experience
1980 - 1986
Associate Professor of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston IL
1985 - present
Honorary Founding Professor, University of Peradeniya and Center for Intersectoral Community Health Studies, Kandy, Sri Lanka
1986 -1989
Visiting Professor, Universidad Peruana de Cayetano Heredia, Lina, Peru
1995 - present
Adjunct Professor of Anthropology, UCONN
1997 -present
Senior Fellow/Research Affiliate, Department of Psychology, Yale University

2006-2007

Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Education and Information Sciences, UCLA

Research Experience

2009-2012

Co-Principal Investigator, Institute for Community Research (ICR), Hartford, CT;

Smokeless Tobacco Use and Reproductive Health Among Married Women in a Low-income area of Mumbai, India, funded by the Fogarty International Center and the National Cancer Institute (#1R03TW008350-01).

2009-ongoing

Co-Core Director, Community Engagement Core of the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (CICATS).

2008-2010
Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; Alcohol, Sexuality and HIV Research and Prevention in India, conference grant funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (#1U13AA17593-01).

2007-2010
Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; MDMA and STD/HIV Risk among Hidden Networks of Ecstasy-Using Young Adults, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

2006-2008
Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; Place-based Social Marketing to Prevent Party Drug Use among Urban Youth: Xperience Project, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (#1 P01 CD000237-01).

2005-2008
Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; Alcohol, Sexual Risk and HIV Prevention in Mumbai, India, funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

2005-2006
Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; V.I.P.: Vaccinate for Influenza Prevention, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

2004-2005
Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; Vaccinate for Influenza Prevention: A Pilot Study of Influenza Vaccine Acceptability Among Residents of Senior Housing, core-funding by ICR.

2002-2003
Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; Training and Pilot Research Related to the Prevention of HIV Infection in Migrant Youth in Mumbai. World AIDS Foundation with IIPS, Mumbai, India.

2001-2008
Director, Yale University Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (CIRA); Qualitative Methods Program, funded by NIH/NIMH (#1 P30 MH62294-01).

2001-2006
Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; Urban Lifestyles: Club Drugs, Resource Inequities and Health Risks in Urban Youth, funded by NIDA (#RFA DA-010101).

2001-2004
Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; Improving Access to Mental Health Services for Older Hartford Residents, funded by the Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation (#01-201).

1999-2004
Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; Building Preventative Group Norms in Urban Middle Schools, NIDA (#DA12015).

1999-2003
Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; AIDS Risk in Older Urban Adult Senior Housing Residents, funded by the National Institute on Aging (#AG16564).

1998-2003
Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; Training grant R25: Youth Action Research Training Institute, funded by NIMH.

1997-2003
Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; Pathways to High-Risk Drug Abuse Among Urban Youth, NIDA (#R01-DS11421).

1997-ongoing
Administration, Methods and International co-directorships, Yale University Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (CIRA).

1997-2000
Co-Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; Study of High-Risk Drug Use Settings for HIV Prevention, through Yale University CIRA.

1996-1998
Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; Development of AIDS Behavioral Risk Surveillance Instrument for Sri Lanka. World Bank.

1995-1996
Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; Measuring Activity Levels in Puerto Rican Children: A Validation Study, funded by the Donaghue Foundation.

1994-1999
Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; Urban Women Against Substance Abuse, funded by CSAP.

1994-1996
Co-Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; Youth and AIDS in Sri Lanka, funded by USAID/International Center for Research on Women.

1991-1993
Co-Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; Women, Work and AIDS in Mauritius, funded by USAID/International Center for Research on Women.

1988-1992
Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; Project COPE: Preventing AIDS Among Injection Drug Users and their Sex Partners, funded by NIDA (#R18-DA05750).

1988-1994
Principal Investigator, ICR, Hartford, CT; Teen Action Research Project, funded by CSAP.

Publications
Schensul, J.J., Radda, K., Coman, E., & Vazquez, E. (2009). Multi-Level Intervention to Prevent Influenza Infection in Older Minority Adults. In: Schensul, J.J and Trickett, E., eds. Multi-Level Community Based Culturally Situated Interventions, Special Issue, American Journal of Community Psychology, 43 (3/4): 313-329.

Schensul, J.J. & Trickett, E. (2009). Introduction to Multi-Level Community Based Culturally Situated Interventions. In: Schensul, J.J and Trickett, E., eds. Multi-Level Community Based Culturally Situated Interventions, Special Issue, American Journal of Community Psychology, 43 (3/4): 232-240.

Schensul, J.J. (2009). Community, Culture and Sustainability in Multilevel Dynamic Systems Intervention Science. In: Schensul, J.J and Trickett, E., eds. Multi-Level Community Based Culturally Situated Interventions, Special Issue, American Journal of Community Psychology, 43 (3/4): 241-256 .

Schensul, S.L., Saggurti, N., Singh, R., Verma, R., Nastasi, B., & Guha, P. (2009). Multilevel Perspectives on Community Intervention: An Example from an Indo-US HIV Prevention Project in Mumbai, India. In: Schensul, J.J and Trickett, E., eds. Multi-Level Community Based Culturally Situated Interventions, Special Issue, American Journal of Community Psychology, 43 (3/4): 277-291.

Berg, M., Coman, E., & Schensul, J.J. (2009). Youth Action Research for Prevention:  A multi-level intervention designed to increase efficacy and empowerment among urban youth. In: Schensul, J.J and Trickett, E., eds. Multi-Level Community Based Culturally Situated Interventions, Special Issue, American Journal of Community Psychology, 43 (3/4): 345-359.

Diamond, S., Schensul, J.J., Snyder, L., Bermudez, A., D’Alessandro, N., & Morgan, D.S. (2009). Building Xperience: A Multilevel Drug Prevention Intervention for Urban Youth. In: Schensul, J.J and Trickett, E., eds. Multi-Level Community Based Culturally Situated Interventions, Special Issue, American Journal of Community Psychology, 43 (3/4): 292-312.

Trickett, E. & Schensul, J.J. (2009). Summary Comments: Multi-Level Community Based Culturally Situated Interventions. In: Schensul, J.J and Trickett, E., eds. Multi-Level Community Based Culturally Situated Interventions, Special Issue, American Journal of Community Psychology, 43 (3/4): 377-381.

Schensul, J., Berg, M., & Williamson, K. (2008). Challenging Hegemonies: Advancing Collaboration in Community-Based Participatory Action Research. Collaborative Anthropologies, 1: 102-137.

Schensul, J. J., Robison, J., Reyes, C., Radda, K., Gaztambide, S., & Disch, W. (2006). Building Interdisciplinary/Intersectoral Research Partnerships for Community-Based Mental Health Research with Older Minority Adults. American Journal of Community Psychology, 38(1-2), 79-93.

Schensul, J. (2006). Life at the Crossroads. NAPA Bulletin: Making History At The Frontier: Women Creating Careers As Practicing Anthropologists, 26, 163-190.

Diamond, S., Bermudez, R., & Schensul, J. J. (2006). What's The Rap About Ecstasy?: Popular Music Lyrics and Drug Trends Among American Youth. Journal of Adolescent Research, 21(3), 269-298.

Schensul, J. (2005). Strengthening Communities through Research Partnerships for Social Change: Perspectives from the Institute for Community Research. In S. Hyland (Ed.), Community Building in the Twenty-First Century (1st ed., pp. 191-218). Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research.

Schensul, J. J. (2005). Sustainability in HIV Prevention Research. In E. Trickett & W. Pequenot (Eds.), Community Interventions and AIDS: Targeting the Community Context (pp. 176-195). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Schensul, J. J., & Burkholder, G. J. (2005). Vulnerability, social networks, sites, and selling as predictors of drug use among urban African American and Puerto Rican emerging adults. Journal of Drug Issues, 35(2), 379-407.

Schensul, J. J., Convey, M., & Burkholder, G. J. (2005). Challenges in measuring concurrency, agency and intentionality in polydrug research. Addictive Behaviors, 30(3), 571-574.

Schensul, J. J., Diamond, S., Disch, W., Pino, R., & Bermudez, R. (2005). The Diffusion of Ecstasy through Urban Youth Networks. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 4(2), 39-71.

Singer, M., Clair, S., Schensul, J., Huebner, C., Eiserman, J., Pino, R., et al. (2005). Dust in the Wind: The Growing Use of Embalming Fluid Among Youth in Hartford, CT. Substance Use & Misuse, 40(8), 1035-1050.

Berg, M. J., & Schensul, J. J., (Guest Editors, 2004). Practicing Anthropology. Special Issue: Approaches to Conducting Action Research with Youth. 26(2).

Berg, M., & Schensul, J.J. (2004). Introduction: Research with youth. Practicing Anthropology, 26(2), 2-4.

Nastasi, B. K., Schensul, J. J., Balkcom, C. T., & Cintrón-Moscoso, F. (2004). Integrating research and practice to facilitate implementation across multiple contexts: Illustration from an urban middle school drug and sexual risk prevention program. In K. E. Robinson (Ed.), Advances in school-based mental health: Best practices and program models. Kingston, NJ: Civic Research Institute.

Schensul, J., Berg, M., Schensul, D., & Sydkim, S. (2004). Core elements of participatory action research for educational empowerment and risk prevention with urban youth. Practicing Anthropology, 26(2), 5-8.

Schensul, J. J., & Berg, M. (2004). Youth Participatory Action Research: A transformative approach to service learning. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning. (Special Issue: Service-Learning and Anthropology), 10(3), 76-88.

Ward, E. G., Disch, W. B., Levy, J. A., & Schensul, J. J. (2004). Perception of HIV/AIDS Risk Among Urban, Low-Income Senior-Housing Residents. AIDS Education & Prevention, 16(6), 571-588.

Berg, M. J., Owens, D. C., & Schensul, J. J. (2003). Participatory Action Research, Service-Learning, and Community Youth Development. CYD Journal: Community Youth Development, 3(2), 20-25.

Clair, S., Schensul, J. J., Raju, M., Stanek, E., & Pino, R. (2003). Will You Remember Me In The Morning? Test-Retest Reliability of a Social Network Analysis Examining HIV-Related Risky Behavior in Urban Adolescents and Young Adults. Connections, 25(2), 88-97.

Eiserman, J., Singer, M., Schensul, J., & Broomhall, L. (2003). Methodological Challenges in Club Drug Research. Practicing Anthropology, 25(3), 19-22.

Liao, S. S., Schensul, J., & Wolffers, I. (2003). Sex-related health risks and implications for interventions with hospitality women in Hainan, China. AIDS Education & Prevention, 15(2), 109-121.

Radda, K. E., Schensul, J. J., Disch, W. B., Ward, E., Levy, J. A., & Reyes, C. Y. (2003). Assessing Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Risk among Older Urban Adults. Family Community Health, 26(3), 203-213.

Schensul, J., Verma, R. K., Pelto, P. J., & Joshi, A. (2003). Multi-Method Approaches to Research on Sexuality in the Time of AIDS. In R. Verma, P. J. Pelto, A. Joshi & S. L. Schensul (Eds.), Sexuality in the Time of AIDS. New Delhi: Sage. Delhi: Sage.

Schensul, J. J. (2003). Democratizing Science Through Social Science Research Partnerships. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 22(3), 190-202.

Schensul, J. J. (2003). Can intervention science sustain local health problem solving capacity? In E. Trickett & W. Pequenot (Eds.), Context, Culture and Collaboration in AIDS Interventions: Ecological Ideas for Enhancing Community Impact: Oxford University Press.

Schensul, J. J. (2003). PCP Abuse in Hartford, Connecticut. In Epidemiologic Trends in Drug Abuse. Proceedings of the Community Epidemiology Work Group. Highlights and Executive Summary (Vol. 1): National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Schensul, J. J., Levy, J. A., & Disch, W. B. (2003). Individual, Contextual, and
Social Network Factors Affecting Exposure to HIV/AIDS Risk Among Older Residents Living in Low-Income Senior Housing Complexes. JAIDS: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, 33(2), S138-S152.

Schensul, J. J., Velazco, O., & Burkholder, G. (2003). Tracking the Presence of "Dust" in Connecticut. In Epidemiologic Trends in Drug Abuse. Proceedings of the Community Epidemiology Work Group (Vol. 2, pp. 276-280). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Schensul, J. J., Berg, M., & Brase, M. (2002). Theories Guiding Outcomes for Action Research for Service-Learning. In A. Furco & S. H. Billig (Eds.), Service-Learning: The Essence of the Pedagogy (Vol. 1, pp. 125-143). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

Schensul, J. J., Radda, K., Weeks, M. R., & Clair, S. (2002). Ethnicity, Social Networks and HIV Risk in Older Drug Users. In J. A. Levy & B. A. Pescosolida (Eds.), Social Networks and Health (Vol. 8, pp. 167-197). Amsterdam: JAI.

Weeks, M. R., Clair, S., Borgatti, S. P., Radda, K., & Schensul, J. J. (2002). Social networks of drug users in high-risk sites: Finding the connections. AIDS & Behavior, 6(2), 193-206.

Weeks, M. R., Clair, S., Singer, M., Radda, K., Schensul, J. J., Wilson, D. S., Martinez, M., Scott, G. & Knight, G. (2001). High risk drug use sites, meaning and practice: Implications for AIDS prevention. Journal of Drug Issues, 31(3), 781-808.

Weeks, M. R., Clair, S., Borgatti, S. P., Radda, K., & Schensul, J. J. (2001). Social networks of drug users in high-risk sites: Finding the connections. AIDS & Behavior, 6(2), 193-206.

Schensul, J., Huebner, C., Singer, M., Snow, M. Feliciano, P., Broomhall, L. (2000). The High, The Money and The Fame: Smoking Bud Among Urban Youth. Medical Anthropology, Vol. 18:389-414.

Nastasi, B. K., Varjas, K., Schensul, S. L., Silva, K. T., Schensul, J. J., Ratnayake, P. (2000). The Participatory Intervention Model: A framework for conceptualizing and promoting intervention acceptability. School Psychology Quarterly, 15, 207-232.

Sydlo, S.J., Schensul, J.J., Owens, D.C., Brase, M.K., Wiley, K.N., Berg, M.J.,
Baez, E. & Schensul D. Participatory Action Research Curriculum for Empowering
Youth. Hartford, CT: The Institute for Community Research.

Sydlo, S.J., Schensul, J.J., Owens, D.C., Brase, M.K., Wiley, K.N., Berg, M.J.,
Baez, E. & Schensul D. (2000). Participatory Action Research Curriculum for Empowering Youth. Hartford, CT: The Institute for Community Research.

Schensul, J.J. (1999). Building Community Research Partnerships in the Struggle Against AIDS. Health Education & Behavior, 26(2):266-283.

The Ethnographer's Toolkit. (1999). Edited/co-authored by Schensul J. & LeCompte M. with chapter authors. Seven Oaks Innovation. CA: Altamira Press, 7 volumes. Book (190 - 250 pages each): Introduction to Ethnographic Research Methods (1); Essential Ethnographic Methods (2); Enhanced Ethnographic Methods (3); Researching Social Networks, Spatial Data and Hidden Populations (4) ; Analysis and Interpretation of Ethnographic Data (Book 5); Researcher's Role and Research Partnerships (Book 6); Disseminating Ethnographic Data (7).

Singer, M., Marshall, P., Trotter, R., Schensul, J., Weeks, M., Simmons, J.E. & Radda, K.E. (1999). Ethics, Ethnography, Drug Use and AIDS: Dilemmas and Standards in Federally Funded Research. In P. Marshall, M. Singer & M. Clatts (Eds.), Cultural, Observational, and Epidemiological Approaches in the Prevention of Drug Abuse and HIV/AIDS (pp. 198-222). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Nastasi, B. K., Schensul, J. J., deSilva, M.W.A, Varjas, K., Silva, K. T., Ratnayake, P., & Schensul, S. L. (1998). Community based sexual risk prevention program for Sri Lankan youth: Influencing sexual-risk decision making. International Quarterly of Community Health Education, 18 (1), 139-155.

R. Trotter & J. Schensul (1998). Applied Ethnographic Research Methods. Chapter in Handbook of Ethnographic Methods, edited by HR Bernard. CA: Altamira Press.

Professional Positions and Honors
1985 - President, Council on Anthropology and Education
1987 - Hispanic Health Council Service Award for research in Latino communities
1990 - Solon T. Kimball Biennial American Anthropology Association. Policy Research Award
1992 - San Juan Center/OPUS Community Service Award for research on aging in Latino communities
1995-1997 - President, Society for Applied Anthropology
1996 - Audrey Lorde Award for Scholar-Activist Collaboration in Women's Studies, Union Institute

1996 - Rockefeller Foundation one-month residency: Bellagio Conference Center for work on AIDS in Sri Lanka.
2000 - Residency, School for American Research, Santa Fe, for work on community building
2001 - AAA/SfAA Commission on the Application of Anthropology to Social and Health Problems

2006-8 - Amer. Anthroplogical Association Elected Member, Long Range Planning Committee

2009 - Mayor’s Award for Women contributing to the welfare of Hartford

2009-12 - Invited member of DSMB, National Children’s study, one of seven members nationally

2010-13 - Elected Member, Executive Board, American Anthropological Association

2010 - Bronislaw Malinowski Career Award, Society for Applied Anthropology