The Vermont Center on Behavior and Health (VCBH) was established in 2013 to study the relationship between behavior and health. The VCBH has become a vibrant research center supported by multiple federal grants including a Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science (TCORS) Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)/Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) Award from the National Institute on General Medical Sciences.
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 disadvantage where these risk factors are overrepresented.
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.