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


Monthly Lecture Series:
Returning on September 17, 2025

Annual Conference:
October 9-10, 2025

Visit the Center on Rural Addiction

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VCBH Career Opportunities

Postdoctoral Research Fellowships
Click here for more information.

VCBH News

  • Biden-Harris Administration Announce Drug Policy Priorities Including Focus on Contingency Management and Reimbursement
    On April 1st, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) announced the Biden-Harris Administration’s drug policy priorities (PDF) for year one. Priority one is an expansion of access to evidence-based treatment, which includes identifying and addressing “policy barriers related to contingency management interventions (motivational incentives) for stimulant use disorder” as well as exploring “reimbursement for motivational incentives and digital treatment for addiction, especially stimulant use disorder.”
  • New Commentary on Contingency Management Published in JAMA Psychiatry
    On March 3, 2021, JAMA Psychiatry published "Bringing Together Behavioral Science, Community Engagement, and Cultural Adaptations to Increase Alcohol Abstinence Among American Indian and Alaska Native People Using Contingency Management Therapy," authored by Stephanie S. O’Malley, PhD; Maria C. Crouch, MS; Stephen T. Higgins, PhD.
  • Dr. Khadanga Talks Pandemic Side Effect: Sitting
    Sherrie Khadanga, MD, a COBRE project director at the Vermont Center on Behavior and Health, cardiologist at the University of Vermont Medical Center, and assistant professor at UVM Larner College of Medicine was interviewed for “The Pandemic’s Heart-Breaking Side Effect: Sitting, Sitting, Sitting,”
  • Brian Sprague, MD Discusses Latest Cancer Statistics
    Dr. Brian Sprague, Director of the Vermont Breast Cancer Surveillance System and Associate Professor of Surgery at the Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont and Senior Epidemiologist at the Vermont Center on Behavior and Health discussed the latest American Cancer Society findings with local TV network WCAX.
  • Incentives Could Enhance Adherence with COVID-19 Vaccination Schedule
    While public health and infectious disease experts have discussed strategies to enhance adherence, including the potential use of financial incentives, an examination of the scientific evidence on incentivizing vaccine adherence has not been discussed. A new Commentary in Preventive Medicine by a team led by Stephen Higgins, Ph.D., director of the Vermont Center on Behavior and Health and professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, addresses that gap.