Behavioral and Preventive Medicine

The Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine at The Miriam Hospital aims to improve health through behavioral change and the integration of behavioral and biomedical science using clinical, community-based, and laboratory-based research. Researchers are committed to both basic research on discovery of the mechanisms underlying behavioral factors in health and illness, and to applied research on the translation of these discoveries for clinical and community health improvement.

Programs range from those that focus on primary prevention—promoting tobacco cessation, preventing weight gain, increasing physical activity, and HIV/AIDS prevention—to improving the effectiveness of treatment and enhancing quality of life in populations such as cancer survivors and patients enrolled in cardiac rehabilitation programs.

Areas of research include:

• cancer survivorship
• cardiovascular behavioral medicine
• diabetes
• genetics
• health communications and technology
• health disparities
• HIV/AIDS
• maternal-infant-child studies
• neurobehavioral mechanisms
• nicotine and substance abuse
• sleep medicine
• weight control