The Vermont Center on Behavior and Health (VCBH) is delighted to announce that Hypatia (Tia) Bolívar, Ph.D., a TCORS postdoctoral fellow, will join the University of Illinois-Springfield as a psychology instructor. Her position will include teaching and mentoring undergraduate psychology students. 

While at VCBH, Dr. Bolívar assisted in ongoing research on very-low nicotine content cigarettes in vulnerable populations as well as working with her primary advisor, Dr. Diann Gaalema, on examining smoking and non-cigarette tobacco use in patients with cardiovascular disease. She is currently leading a meta-analysis on the effects of contingency management in the treatment of behavioral problems with individuals with opiate use disorder.

“Although my time at VCBH was shorter than I anticipated, my experience has been excellent. I learned a great deal about conducting research with vulnerable populations and am extremely grateful for the opportunity to learn from several esteemed leaders in the field of behavior change,” said Dr. Bolívar.

Dr. Bolívar’s work on smoking in cardiovascular patients resulted in a first-author publication in press at the Journal of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. She is a co-author on two studies examining the effects of smoking on vulnerable populations that are both currently under review.