Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences

In the heart of Virginia, amidst the serene landscapes of Charles City County, a transformative partnership is reshaping the narrative of community health and trust. Today, we shine the spotlight on Dr. Kathy Tossas, whose unwavering dedication to community engagement through the Chickahominy TRUTH project has illuminated the path toward equitable health solutions and profound […]

Dr. Lanoye serves as Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences National Cancer Control Month is celebrated during the month of April in honor of those that are currently fighting cancer, have survived it and those who have tragically lost the battle. Dr. Autumn Lanoye has dedicated her career to helping cancer […]

Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences alumna and affiliate faculty member, Jeanine Guidry, says improving our understanding of why people may or may not vaccinate remains ‘of great importance.’ By VCU News staff Jeanine Guidry, Ph.D., an affiliate faculty member at the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences in the School of Population Health and at the Richard T. […]

SBS Affiliate Faculty member Autumn Lanoye, PhD, LCP served as moderator for Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Gordon Ginder Innovations in Cancer Symposium on March 26th. “Don’t underestimate the level of meaning and importance” on a person’s stress management and overall wellbeing, said Susan Lutgendorf, Ph.D., to a crowded room of cancer investigators and community advocates. […]

This Women’s History Month we’re featuring outstanding SBS alumnae, women in leadership roles, and students and faculty conducting research focused on improving women’s health in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Brown graduated from the Social and Behavioral Sciences Ph.D. program in 2020. She is currently Assistant Professor at Drexel University’s College of […]

Dr. Vanessa B. Sheppard has built a career researching health disparities, focusing her efforts on groups who have been historically underrepresented in clinical research, including African American and Latinx populations. Her dedication and groundbreaking research led her to be named the American Cancer Society’s Researcher of the Year in 2022, and she currently serves as […]

VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center hosted the inaugural Catchment Area Data Conference (CADC) – Beyond Definition at the Richmond Marriott on Dec. 7-9. Pictured from left to right: Chris McNair, Ph.D., Karriem Watson, M.S., M.P.H., Lisa Richardson, M.D., M.P.H., Recinda Sherman, Ph.D., M.P.H., Katherine Tossas, Ph.D., M.S., Robert A. Winn, M.D., and Karen Knudsen, Ph.D., […]

With expertise in behavior science, math and other fields, the MAVEN project aims to boost public health in the post-pandemic era. An interdisciplinary team of Virginia Commonwealth University scientists and mathematicians has been awarded more than $660,000 by the National Science Foundation to study vaccine coverage and identify drivers of vaccine uptake in the United […]

VCU Alumni’s 10 Under 10 awards program recognizes the noteworthy and distinctive achievements made by alumni who earned their first VCU degree (undergraduate, graduate or professional) within the past 10 years.  Assistant professor, Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions Kristal Lyn Brown, Ph.D. (Ph.D.’20), discovered her path studying health disparities in obesity treatment when […]

Savannah Reitzel, Ph.D. candidate in the Social and Behavioral Sciences program, was recently awarded a 2023 National Institute of Justice Graduate Research Fellowship. Her project, titled “THRIVE: Transformative Health and Reproductive Information for Incarcerated Women’s Empowerment,” seeks to promote health equity for incarcerated women in the US. The complicated healthcare system and the absence of […]