About Andrew
Research, teaching, and prevention
I am Andrew Brankley, an Assistant Professor in York University’s Department of Psychology, a registered psychologist, and Director of the Sex and Violence Evaluation (SAVE) Lab. My work brings research, teaching, clinical experience, and knowledge mobilization together around a practical question: how can careful evidence help prevent harmful sexual behaviour and violence?
From philosophy to clinical psychology
My first degree was in philosophy. It left me with a lasting interest in how we define difficult ideas, weigh competing explanations, and decide what can reasonably be concluded from incomplete evidence.
Clinical psychology gave those questions a practical setting. It taught me that useful professional judgement depends on more than a score, a diagnosis, or a single study. It requires attention to context, transparent reasoning, and a willingness to communicate uncertainty clearly.
A scientist-practitioner orientation
My work as a psychologist and researcher is guided by the same commitment: use the best available evidence, make the reasoning visible, and remain open to revision when new information matters. I aim to be precise without losing sight of the person, setting, and decision at hand.
My clinical orientation reflects that approach to assessment and intervention. It is a description of professional orientation, not a statement of current service availability.
Research, prevention, and the SAVE Lab
At York, I direct the Sex and Violence Evaluation Lab, where research, student development, and knowledge mobilization are organized around prevention. Our work examines psychological constructs relevant to harmful behaviour, the measurement and interpretation of structured assessment, and ways to move evidence into prevention and intervention.
My research draws on psychological measurement, meta-analysis, structured assessment, and collaboration across academic and applied settings. The goal is not simply to produce findings, but to produce work that is rigorous, clear about its limits, and useful to people making consequential decisions.
Teaching, mentorship, and collaboration
In my teaching, students work through realistic problems, compare alternatives, and learn to communicate a defensible position rather than simply reproduce information. I teach students to use evidence, explain their reasoning, and revise their work in response to feedback.
Mentorship follows the same principle. I support undergraduate and graduate researchers as they take increasing responsibility for questions, methods, analyses, interpretation, and communication. I value collaboration that gives people meaningful roles, makes expectations visible, and creates opportunities to develop independent judgement.
Across research, teaching, and knowledge mobilization, I am most interested in work that helps careful evidence travel: from studies to classrooms, professional learning, collaborative settings, and prevention efforts.