LauraEllen Ashcraft, PhD, MSW (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Ashcraft is also an Implementation Science Methodologist in the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP) and the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA, where she also serves as the Co-Director of the Dissemination & Implementation Science Core.
Dr. Ashcraft’s work as an implementation science methodologist seeks to advance the field of implementation science by leveraging theory to promote equity, excellence, and innovation in methods, analysis, and dissemination in health and human services. Her current projects include AMETHIST@Penn (implementation science and maternal health equity), SAGE QUERI (implementation science & aging in the VA), HATRICC-US (standardized handoffs from ORs to ICUs), and Penn Medicine Healthy Heart (ASCVD management in primary care). Dr. Ashcraft led the first systematic review examining strategies to disseminate research to U.S. policymakers, which was published in Implementation Science. She has prior experience conducting mixed methods research in critical care and long-term acute care settings.
Dr. Ashcraft received her Master’s of Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh in 2013 with concentrations in Community Organizing and Social Administration. She completed her PhD in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh in 2021 with a focus on implementation science in chronic pain management in primary care settings. Her dissertation work involved the development of a novel strategy to quantify implementer concordance.
