Health and Behavioral Sciences

Director: Karen Spencer
Program Assistant: Heather Doane
Mailing Address: Program in Health and Behavioral Sciences, Campus Box 188, P.O. Box 173364, Denver, CO 80217-3364
Office Location: North Classroom 3018
Telephone: 303-315-7157
Fax: 303-315-7155
E-mail:
Website: clas.ucdenver.edu/hbsc/

Faculty

Professors:
Stephen Koester, PhD, University of Colorado
David P. Tracer, PhD, University of Michigan

Associate Professors:
jimi adams, PhD Ohio State University
Karen Spencer, PhD, Indiana University
Ronica Rooks, PhD, University of Maryland College Park
Sara Yeatman, PhD, University of Texas Austin
Patrick Krueger, PhD, University of Colorado

Assistant Professors:
Jennifer Boylan, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Meng Li, PhD, Rutgers University

Professors Emerita:
Debbi Main, PhD, University of Colorado

Research and Clinical Faculty:
Sharon Devine, PhD, University of Colorado
Jean Scandlyn, PhD, Columbia University

The mission of the health and behavioral sciences (HBSC) program is to apply social science theory and innovative research methods to critically address emerging issues in health. The program trains students to confront issues affecting the health of communities and populations by focusing on social determinants of health and diseases. These determinants can be more influential on population health than the health care system.

The program’s overarching framework integrates social, cultural and biomedical perspectives to understand the underpinnings of health and the conditions essential for its creation and maintenance. Students and faculty conduct interdisciplinary research on topics including emerging diseases, maternal/child health, substance abuse, health disparities and global health. Graduates are innovative researchers, effective educators and leaders directly engaged in the practice of population health.

Population health is working to protect the environment, identifying sources of illness in population groups, controlling disease outbreaks, evaluating the economic impacts of changing demographics, developing interventions to promote healthy behavior, and producing health policy legislation. Population health draws from a broad array of disciplines, such as the social and behavioral sciences, sociology, anthropology, psychology, medicine, economics, statistics, epidemiology, law and biology, and each provides unique insights for the diverse set of activities involved in population health practice.

PhD Program in Health and Behavioral Sciences

The doctor of philosophy degree in health and behavioral sciences is rooted in the realization that our ability as a global society to overcome some of the most significant and intractable public health problems today rests on the willingness of biomedical and social science researchers to innovate across traditional disciplinary boundaries. Students are trained in theory from multiple disciplines and in both quantitative and qualitative research methods.

A master’s degree is not provided by the health and behavioral sciences department.

A student’s particular research focus constitutes a key part of his or her doctoral program. A range of possible foci exists, given the particular student’s interest and faculty expertise. Examples of HBSC research foci include:

Social determinants of health. Such research interests include studies on the health-related influences of socioeconomic position, social and economic inequality, discrimination, social networks and support, social capital, work conditions and psychological states including stress.
Community health. This area of research involves community health assessment; program design and evaluation; translation of evidence-based interventions to diverse populations and communities; participatory research and community mobilization; policy analysis and advocacy for health-related problems.
Biosocial ecology. Within this area are studies of the interplay of biological (including physiological, genetic or others of the biomedical health sciences), social, cultural and environmental characteristics influencing maternal/infant health, exercise performance or susceptibility to disease.
Global health topics include social, cultural and biomedical factors influencing transmission of disease and health disparities on an international (as well as national) scale.

Recent student research exemplifying such foci includes:

perinatal stressors and fetal and child health in New Zealand
gender differences in access to effective HIV care in sub-Saharan Africa
the factors that shape whether minority owned businesses offer employee sponsored health insurance
decision making around healthy food choices among school-aged children
community representation in health organizations in Colorado
race/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in exercise, sleep, and nutrition behaviors among U.S. adults

Graduates of the HBSC program acquire skills that situate them for academic careers and leadership roles in population health. Depending upon a student’s concentration, the successful graduate will gain expertise in research design and methods; social, cultural and biobehavioral determinants of health and disease; the structure and organization of health care systems; the contribution of individual, social and cultural factors for deciding health behaviors; and how guided change in health care systems may enhance quality, efficacy and access. The significance of these skills in addressing current complex health issues ensures that graduates will be in demand in a number of employment sectors ranging from community and public health organizations, to academic institutions, to nonprofit research organizations and to private health care settings.

Click here to learn about the Health and Behavioral Sciences PhD program requirements.