Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Marcie Wright, Ph.D., M.P.H., has been named interim associate dean for research at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Public Health, where she will provide strategic leadership to advance the School’s growing research enterprise. Wright, an associate professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, began her career at VCU in 2008. She has […]

Here are details, including upcoming application deadlines, for VCU’s fifth M.P.H. focus. or the third time this year, Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Public Health is expanding its Master of Public Health program – this time, with a degree concentration in health communication. Already in 2025, the school introduced a concentration in health policy, and it announced – starting […]

International Open Access Week is observed annually in order to highlight the benefits of free and immediate access to scholarly research worldwide. Open access allows research scholarship to have wide-reaching effects, and grants colleagues the ability to freely share and use research. This year’s theme is “Who Owns Our Knowledge?” – an opportunity to consider […]

VCU Alumni’s 10 Under 10 awards recognizes the noteworthy and distinctive achievements made by alumni who earned their first VCU degree (undergraduate, graduate or professional) within the past 10 years.  Michelle Laws, PhD, who earned her PhD in Social and Behavioral Sciences in 2016, has been selected by VCU’s Office of Alumni Relations as one […]

During this year’s National Postdoc Appreciation Week (Sept 15-19) we’re recognizing Karly Casanave-Phillips, Ph.D., M.A., and Chloé Jones, Ph.D., M.S., postdoctoral fellows and mentees of Jessica G. LaRose, Ph.D. Karly Casanave-Phillips, Ph.D., M.A. is a postdoctoral fellow in the Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) T32. She earned her Ph.D. in Sport, […]

Dr. Hsinling Sonya Hung is retiring as of August 31, 2025. Dr. Hung joined VCU in 2016 as assistant professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences (then the Department of Health Behavior & Policy). During her time at VCU, she has collaborated as evaluator and co-investigator on a myriad of health promotion projects, including […]

LaRose has served as interim chair since November 2022, prior to the School’s founding. by Maggie Christ Jessica G. LaRose, Ph.D., F.S.B.M., has been named chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences as of August 1, 2025. She took on the role in an interim capacity, first as the Department of Health Behavior and Policy […]

During this year’s promotion and tenure cycle, Sunny Jung Kim, Ph.D., M.S., M.A., was promoted to associate professor with tenure. Kim joined the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences in 2018 as an assistant professor. She is also a member of the Cancer Prevention and Control research program at Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center. Kim’s scholarship focuses on translating communication, behavioral, and […]

It’s Spring Graduation season and we’re celebrating our most recent graduates from the School of Public Health. Stacie Lefeavers, Ph.D.’25, M.P.H.’20, R.N., recently defended her dissertation, earning her Ph.D. in social and behavioral sciences. In this video, Lefeavers shares the impact and findings from her research on intimate partner violence and sex trafficking on college […]

It’s Spring Graduation season and we’re celebrating our most recent graduates from the School of Public Health. Among them is Julie Russo, Ph.D.’25, M.P.H.’21. Russo chose VCU in part because she was drawn to the research of Kellie Carlyle, Ph.D., who became her advisor for both degrees. During her time at SOPH, she came to […]