Biography
Jennifer Tiffany serves as Executive Director of Cornell University Cooperative Extension’s New York City Programs, Director of Outreach and Community Engagement for the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research (BCTR), and as Director of the Community Engagement in Research Component of Weill Cornell Medical College's Clinical and Translational Sciences Center. She also directs the BCTR's HIV Risk Reduction Research and Education Projects and contributes to the BCTR’s Research Synthesis Project and Research Navigator Initiative. She served as Associate Director of Cornell Cooperative Extension and Associate Director for Extension and Outreach in the College of Human Ecology from 2011 through 2014, working to promote the translation of Cornell’s research to communities throughout New York State and beyond at the same time as working to increase community members’, policy makers', and practitioners’ participation in developing research projects and agendas. She joined the College of Human Ecology in 1989 to develop and direct the "Talking with Kids about HIV/AIDS" parent education project, which has received numerous state and national awards. Many of her scholarly articles focus on youth participation and HIV risk reduction. She received a BA summa cum laude in East Asian Area Studies from Dickinson College in 1977, and holds an MRP and PhD in City and Regional Planning from Cornell University as well as a degree in nursing from Tompkins-Cortland Community College.
The Complementary Strengths Research Partnership: This community-based participatory research project examines the relationships among social connectedness, highly engaged youth program participation, and HIV risk reduction among adolescents in New York City after-school programs. Our objective is to study the interactions among youth connectedness, highly engaged program participation and HIV risk reduction using both quantitative and qualitative analytic methods in order to develop effective setting-based interventions that promote strong youth participation, thereby promoting adolescent sexual health and youth health and well-being overall. The Tiffany-Eckenrode Program Participation Scale (TEPPS), developed and validated through this study, is now being disseminated. The most recent extension of this project is a study adapting and validating measures of positive youth development outcomes in collaboration with youth involved in NYC 4-H programs.
Empowering Parents to Promote Adolescent Sexual Health: This integrated research and extension project builds on the long-standing “Talking with Kids about HIV/AIDS” parent education project to develop, field-test and deliver an innovative, participatory, community-based educational intervention for parents and other adults raising children in New York State.
Implementation of Evidence-Based Programs: How practitioners and intervention developers view implementation processes may influence how evidence-based programs are developed and put into practices. Further, the organizational settings in which evidence-based programs are implemented may influence the impact they have on participants.
International participatory action research to mobilize youth responses to HIV/AIDS: Although the timeframe for funded community mobilization programs is often brief, they may continue to bear fruit over long periods. We continue to follow-up on UNICEF’s global "What Every Adolescent has a Right to Know" initiative when opportunities emerge.
SELECTED JOURNAL ARTICLES
Zadeh, R., Capezuti, E., Eshelman, P., Woody, N., Tiffany, J. & Krueger, A.C. (2018). Non-pharmacological solutions to sleep and circadian rhythm disruption: Voiced bedside experiences of hospice and end-of-life staff caregivers. BMC Palliative Care. 17:131. Https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-018-0385-2
Ja, N. & Tiffany, J.S. (2018). The challenges of becoming better sex educators for young people and the resources needed to get there: Findings from focus groups with economically disadvantaged racial/ethnic minority parents. Health Education Research, v33 issue 5, pp. 402-415 https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyy029
Tiffany, J. S. (2017). Extension in the City: Meeting the Challenges of Scale. Journal of Human Sciences and Extension, 5(2), pp. 37-54. https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/c8fe6e_d7d56653662f4013a7e9826dd5180ff3.pdf
Tiffany, J. S., Exner-Cortens, D., and Eckenrode, J. (2013). Longitudinal associations between HIV risk reduction and out-of-school time program participation. Journal of Adolescent Health, 52(6), pp. 795-797.
Goto, K., Tiffany, J., Pelto, G, and Pelletier, D. (2012). Young people’s experiences in youth-led participatory action research for HIV/AIDS prevention. International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies, 3(4), pp. 396-408.
Tiffany, J., Exner, D., and Eckenrode, J. (2012). A new measure for youth program participation. Journal of Community Psychology. 40(3), pp. 277-291.
Goto, K. Pelto, G, Pelletier, D., and Tiffany, J. (2010) “It Really Opened My Eyes:” The effects on youth peer educators of participating in an action research project. Human Organization 60(2), pp. 192-199.
Goto, K., Tiffany, J., Pelto, G. and Pelletier, D. (2008) Use of Q Methodology to Analyze Divergent Perspectives on Participatory Action Research as a Strategy for HIV/AIDS Prevention Among Caribbean Youth. AIDS Education and Prevention 22: 301-311.
Maglajlic, R. A. and Tiffany, J. S., (2006). Participatory action research with youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Journal of Community Practice special issue on Youth Participation and Community Change, 14(1-2), pp. 163-181.
Powers, J. L. and Tiffany, J. S. (2006). Engaging youth in participatory research and evaluation. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, Supplement, pp. 79-87.
Tiffany, J. S. (2006). Respondent-driven sampling in participatory research contexts: Participant-driven recruitment. Journal of Urban Health, 83(7) pp. 113-124.
Bianchi, A., Bishara, D., Enekwe, P., Frost, B., Kastning, A., Tiffany, J. S. et al. (2003).Friends inviting friends: Participant-driven recruitment in an HIV prevention research project, Community Youth Development Journal 4(1), pp. 26-31.
Tiffany, J. S. (2001). Insights from a plant closing: Dislocated workers and economic development planning, Planners Network Journal.
Krauss, B. J., Tiffany, J. S. and Goldsamt, L. (1997). Research Notes: Parent and pre-adolescent training for HIV prevention in a high seroprevalence neighborhood. Royal Tropical Institute AIDS/STD Health Promotion Exchange/Sexual Health Exchange. 1, 10-12.
Tiffany, J. S. (1996). Notes on welfare reform. Community and Rural Development Institute Newsletter. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
Tiffany, J. S. (1992). Talking with kids about AIDS. Family Life Educator, 10 (4).
Buchanan, R., Olsfeldt, R., Tobias, D., Tiffany, J. S., and Ziegler, J. (1990) Medicaid coverage of AIDS related care: Attitudes of state legislators serving on health-related committees. AIDS & Public Policy Journal, 6(3).
Buchanan, R., Olsfeldt, R., Tobias, D., Tiffany, J. S., and Ziegler, J. (1990). Sources of AIDS information: A survey of state legislators' serving on health-related committees, New England Journal of Human Services, 10(3).
SELECTED EXTENSION PUBLICATIONS AND VIDEOS
Tiffany, J.S. (2007) Participatory learning with the HIV/AIDS Education Project, Cornell University Public Service Center 2007 Anthology on Service Learning, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
Tiffany, J. S. and Young, S. (2004). Involving Parents as Partners in Youth Development. Practice Matters Issue #2. Assets Coming Together for Youth Upstate Center of Excellence, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
Cornell University RTK Working Group (2003). Participatory Action Research in the Context of the What Every Adolescent Has a Right to Know (RTK) Initiative: Participatory Action Research Toolkit, Cornell University/UNICEF RTK Initiative, Ithaca,
NY. Also available in CD ROM format: UNICEF (2003) Right to Know: Global Portfolio.
Cornell University RTK Working Group (2002). Participatory action research in the context of the what every adolescent has a right to know (RTK) Initiative: Core Concepts and Methods, Cornell University/UNICEF RTK Initiative, Ithaca, NY. Also available in CD ROM format: UNICEF (2003). Right to Know: Global Portfolio.
Parent HIV/AIDS Education Project (1992). Talking with kids about AIDS: Facilitating key activities. Cornell University Media Services, 58 minute video. Ithaca, NY.
Tiffany, J. S., Tobias, D., Raqib, A. and Ziegler, J. (Second edition 1993, first edition 1991; Spanish edition published 1993). Talking with kids about AIDS resource manual and teaching guide. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
BOOK CHAPTERS
Maglajlic, R. A. and Tiffany, J. S. (2006) with the Bosnia-Herzegovina UNICEF RTK PAR Team. Participatory action research with youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Chapter in B. Checkoway and L. Guttierez (eds). Youth Participation and Community Change. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press.
Krauss, B. J., Godfrey, C., Yee, D., Goldsampt, L., Tiffany, J. S., and Almeyda, L., et al, (2000). Saving our children from a silent epidemic: The PATH Program for Parents and Preadolescents. Chapter in W. Pequegnat and J. Szapocznik (Eds.) Working with families in the era of HIV/AIDS. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Tiffany, J. S. (1994). Involving parents and families in HIV education. Chapter in M. Quakenbush and Clark (eds.) The HIV Challenge. Santa Cruz, CA: ETR Associates.
Tiffany, J. S. (1981). The equal opportunity trap. Chapter in W. Chapkis (ed.), Loaded questions: Women in the military. Amsterdam, Netherlands and Washington, DC: Transnational Institute/Institute for Policy Studies.
Jennifer Tiffany's scholarly work centers on research translation and community engagement, with a particular emphasis on research about youth participation and HIV/AIDS. Projects include local and international participatory research partnerships with adolescents to explore the impact of HIV/AIDS and ways youth and adults can work together to stem the epidemic. Her HIV/AIDS related research includes a study funded by the National Institutes of Health during 2007-2010 to examine the relationships among social connectedness, highly engaged program participation, and HIV risk reduction among 13-17 year olds in New York City. The Tiffany-Eckenrode Program Participation Scale (TEPPS), developed and validated through that study, is now being disseminated. She is the lead author of the “Talking with Kids about HIV/AIDS” parent education curriculum, directed a long-standing education initiative for parents and guardians funded by the NYS Department of Health AIDS Institute, and is now working to translate findings from that project into a new set of parent education resource materials. Her research and outreach efforts build upon participatory action research and community-based participatory research methods as well as participatory approaches to planning, program and resource materials design, and evaluation. In recent years, she has also presented and published on her work in the field of urban extension programming.
Jennifer Tiffany serves as Director of Outreach and Community Engagement for the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research (BCTR), Executive Director of Cornell University Cooperative Extension's NYC Programs, and Director of the Community Engagement in Research Component of Weill Cornell Medicine's Clinical and Translational Sciences Center. All of these roles involve working to integrate extension/outreach with research and teaching; strategic and implementation planning; sustaining a strong partnership between the BCTR and CCE; further developing the CCE summer internship program; assisting faculty and CCE professionals to build research partnerships; working to strengthen linkages between campus-based faculty and community-based extension programs; working to facilitate access to and engagement in Cornell research by policy makers; and identifying opportunities to disseminate Cornell scholarship to external audiences. Dr. Tiffany provides leadership to the Research Navigators Initiative, and is a co-investigator on the BCTR's Research Synthesis project. She directs parenting education projects in New York City tailored to reach low income and recent immigrant families and to aid in the translation of cutting edge Cornell research. This work builds on the “Talking with Kids about HIV/AIDS" Parent HIV Education Project, funded by the New York State Department of Health from 1989 through 2011. “Talking with Kids about HIV/AIDS” received numerous awards, including the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute Distinguished Service Award for the Provision of HIV Prevention Services (2000), the United States Department of Health and Human Services Secretary's Award for Excellence in Community Health Promotion (1994) and the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute HIV/AIDS Materials Development Award for Merit (1994). The project was designated a Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service Program of Excellence by the United States Department of Agriculture in 2001.
Director of Outreach and Community Engagement , Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research (BCTR)
Member , BCTR leadership team
Executive Director, Cornell University Cooperative Extension's New York City Programs
Director of the Community Engagement, Research Component of Weill Cornell Medicine's Clinical and Translational Sciences Center
2004, Ph.D. , City and Regional Planning, Cornell University
1996, MRP, City and Regional Planning, Cornell University
1987, ADN, Nursing, Tompkins Cortland Community College
1977, BA, East Asian Area Studies, Dickinson College