Welcome

The Vermont Center on Behavior and Health (VCBH), led by Director Stephen T. Higgins, PhD, is an interdisciplinary research center committed to investigating relationships between personal behavior patterns (i.e., lifestyle) and risk for chronic disease and premature death. Our work has historically focused on health disparities for the most vulnerable populations, particularly among the socioeconomically disadvantaged where these risk factors are overrepresented.

 

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Located in Burlington, VT at the University of Vermont, Larner College of Medicine, VCBH researchers have a specific focus on understanding mechanisms underpinning risk and developing effective interventions and policies to promote healthy behavior. A common thread across VCBH research projects is the application of knowledge from the disciplines of behavioral economics and behavioral pharmacology to increase understanding of vulnerability to unhealthy behavior and the use of incentives and other behavioral and pharmacological interventions to support healthy behavior change interventions and policies.

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Upcoming VCBH Events

Monthly Lecture Series:

November 20:
Joseph McClernon, PhD
Duke University

December 18:
Hugh Garavan, PhD
University of Vermont

Visit the Center on Rural Addiction

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VCBH Career Opportunities

Postdoctoral Research Fellowships
Click here for more information.

VCBH News

VCBH Fellow Selected for the 2020 American Psychological Association Division 28 Outstanding Dissertation Award

June 19, 2020 by Nicole Twohig

Elias Klemperer, PhD was selected as a co-winner of the 2020 Outstanding Dissertation Award by the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Division 28.
Elias Klemperer, PhD was selected as a co-winner of the 2020 Outstanding Dissertation Award by the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Division 28. Dr. Klemperer joins Allison Kurti, PhD and Kelly Dunn, PhD as the third trainee from the University of Vermont to win the APA Division 28’s Outstanding Dissertation award. This award honors the best doctoral dissertations in psychopharmacology and substance abuse and acknowledges the exceptional quality of Dr. Klemperer’s doctoral dissertation: A randomized trial to compare switching to very low nicotine content cigarettes versus reducing cigarettes per day.

Dr. Klemperer completed his dissertation as a pre-doctoral trainee at VCBH under the mentorship of John Hughes, MD. After completing his clinical internship at Yale University, Dr. Klemperer returned to VCBH and is currently a postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Andrea Villanti, PhD, MPH and Richard Rawson, PhD. Findings from his dissertation were recently published in Addiction and Nicotine & Tobacco Research