I am an Associate Professor in the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. My work focuses on structural interventions in the areas of incarceration, substance use, homelessness and HIV, both at the domestic and international levels. My research examines the manner in which contextual factors such as housing, societal stigma, community mobilization, access to mental health care, and organizational characteristics influence incarceration, substance use, and HIV risk. I co-founded The Center for Carceral Communities in 2015, a collective of service providers and people with a history of incarceration. The Center provides provides support and advocates for people recently released from incarceration. I work closely with sex work, transgender, formerly incarcerated, and homeless communities, mobilizing around issues of social justice.

In addition to my research and clinical work, I perform as a spoken word artist and have established the first dual MSW MFA program in the world, at the University of Pennsylvania.

My initiatives have been supported and funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, the MAC AIDS Foundation, the Robin Hood Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Department of Health, Philadelphia, and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York.

Toorjo Ghose, MSW, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Founding Director, The Center for Carceral Communities
Founder & Coordinator, MSW MFA Program
Penn School of Social Policy & Practice
University of Pennsylvania
3701 Locust Walk, D 17
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6214
215-898-5514
toorjo@upenn.edu