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Department of Social and Behavioral Health News

Housed in the UNLV School of Public Health, the Department of Social and Behavioral Health consists of faculty who engage in research and develop and evaluate community-based programs that promote health and disease prevention. Our students learn to identify high-risk behaviors or trends in specific populations, as well as propose solutions that aim to improve overall public health in communities.

Current Social and Behavioral Health News

three women under a sign that reads "many dreams. one mission."
Research |

Public Health professor Gabriela Buccini and her team are studying the needs of mothers and children to help improve health outcomes for families.

spring campus
Campus News |

Some of the most vibrant headlines featuring UNLV faculty and students.

Fall colors 2025
Campus News |

Some of the biggest news headlines featuring UNLV faculty and students.

First day of classes.
Campus News |

The top news stories starring university students and staff.

June campus horizon shot
Campus News |

The top headlines featuring UNLV’s staff and students.

Spring flowers
Campus News |

The students and faculty of UNLV are springing into headlines around the country.

Social and Behavioral Health In The News

Indica News

Radon gas is a naturally occurring, colorless, odorless, and tasteless radioactive noble gas that serves as the leading environmental cause of cancer deaths and the second-leading cause of lung cancer worldwide after cigarette smoking.

India Currents

A comprehensive global study reports that about 40% of information and communication users suffer from technostress due to constant tech usage.

Indica News

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and related dual agonists (such as semaglutide, liraglutide, and tirzepatide) have transformed the management of type 2 diabetes and chronic obesity.

Indica News

A recent peer-reviewed Japanese study by researchers from the Institute of Science Tokyo published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health found that preparing a home-cooked meal at least once a week is associated with a significantly lower risk of dementia in older adults.

Indica News

By middle age, we often have about half the NAD+ we did in our youth. Hence, dietary supplements are being advocated by wellness influencers and some researchers.

India Currents

About 240,000 cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed every year in the world.

Social and Behavioral Health Experts

An expert on health disparities and LGBTQ aging adults with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
An expert on drug misuse and addiction.
A mental health expert with particular interest in child well-being.
An expert on health behavior and coping with stress.
An expert on lactation, breastfeeding, and maternal and child health and nutrition.

Recent Social and Behavioral Health Accomplishments

Vikash Patel (Social and Behavioral Health) received the 2026 APHA Integrative, Complementary and Traditional Health Practices Section Outstanding Student Poster Award for the presentation “Efficacy of yoga interventions as complementary therapy in the pediatric oncology population: A scoping review of the literature, prepared in co-authorship…
Farhana Khandoker (Social and Behavioral Health) received the 2026 APHA Student Assembly Outstanding Student Abstract Award for an oral presentation, “Applying the multi-theory model of health behavior change to examine depression among adults with type 2 diabetes,” prepared in co-authorship with Manoj Sharma (Public Health; Internal Medicine) at…
Manoj Sharma (Public Health; Internal Medicine) co-presented 28 abstracts at the American Public Health Association's 154th Annual Meeting and Expo in San Antonio, Texas. The topics included digital interventions for autism spectrum disorder, interventions for mindfulness, effects of ashwagandha on depression, physical activity predictors,…
Ph.D. student Farhana Khandoker (Social and Behavioral Health) received the 2026 American Public Health Association (APHA) Student Assembly Outstanding Student Abstract Award at the APHA 2026 Annual Meeting and Expo in San Antonio, Texas. The award recognizes her research titled “Applying the Multi-Theory Model of Health Behavior Change to Examine…
Manoj Sharma (Public Health; Internal Medicine) coauthored an article titled "Effects of supplementation with two probiotic strains on metabolic profile, hormonal status, oxidative stress, and quality of life in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: A study protocol for a randomized clinical trial" along with researchers from Isfahan University of…
Manoj Sharma (Public Health; Internal Medicine), as a senior collaborator with the GBD 2023 Cervical Cancer Collaborators, coauthored an article titled "Global, regional and national burden of cervical cancer in 1990–2023 with forecasts to 2050: a Global Burden of Disease study" in the journal Nature Medicine (Impact factor 52.3). This study…