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

 

March Lecture Series: Cancelled

Many of the VCBH's faculty and trainees will be attending the SRNT annual meeting in Scotland at this time and will not be available for this month's lecture.

Visit the Center on Rural Addiction

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VCBH Career Opportunities

VCBH Center Administrator. Click here to apply.

Postdoctoral Research Fellowships. Click here for more information.

VCBH News

VCBH Faculty Andrea Villanti, PhD, MPH Receives International Recognition

November 20, 2020 by Nicole Twohig

Andrea Villanti, PhD, MPH, an associate professor of psychiatry and psychological science at the Vermont Center on Behavior and Health (VCBH), Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, has been named to Clarivate™ Highly Cited Researchers™ list of the world’s most influential researchers, based on the number of times her published studies have been cited by other researchers over the past decade.
Andrea Villanti, PhD, MPH, an associate professor of psychiatry and psychological science at the Vermont Center on Behavior and Health (VCBH), Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, has been named to Clarivate™ Highly Cited Researchers™ list of the world’s most influential researchers, based on the number of times her published studies have been cited by other researchers over the past decade. 

Dr. Villanti joined the VCBH in 2016 following her time at the Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies at Truth Initiative. Her work focuses on young adult tobacco use, including predictors and patterns of use and interventions to reduce tobacco use in young adults. She partners with the Vermont Department of Health on the Policy and Communication Evaluation (PACE) Vermont study to understand the impact of state-level policies and communication campaigns on substance use beliefs and behaviors in young Vermonters. Dr. Villanti's current NIH-funded research projects include developing and testing novel messages to educate the public on nicotine, examining potential substitutes for menthol cigarettes under a hypothetical menthol cigarette ban, and understanding perceptions and problems associated with vaping in youth and young adults.

In addition to her work at the VCBH, Dr. Villanti also serves as a co-leader of the Cancer Control and Population Health Sciences program at the UVM Cancer Center and is the director of the surveillance and evaluation core at the UVM Center on Rural Addiction.