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
Some of the biggest news headlines featuring UNLV faculty and students.
The top news stories starring university students and staff.
The top headlines featuring UNLV’s staff and students.
The students and faculty of UNLV are springing into headlines around the country.
After an unexpected start in public health, this professor of social and behavioral health is uncovering the complexities of substance misuse and childhood trauma.
Headlines and highlights featuring the students and faculty of UNLV.
Social and Behavioral Health In The News
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is characterized by mood variations with a change in season, especially during the winter months, with reduced daylight.

Fast food chains are seemingly racing to reach a growing demand of customers using GLP-1s, or weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Dr. Manoj Sharma, professor at the Department of Social and Behavioral Health at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said food chains are expanding their menus to include items packed with protein and low in portion size.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or variation of mood with change in season, especially during months with reduced daylight, is a well-recognized condition that adversely affects the mental health and well-being of many people. It was first described in 1984 and is now classified as a distinct disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR), and related to major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder.
Artificial sweeteners, also called nonnutritive sweeteners or non-sugar sweeteners, are created from chemicals in the lab. The first such chemical, saccharin, was accidentally invented by a Russian postdoctoral researcher, Constantin Fahlberg, working with his Professor, Ira Remsen, in 1879, when he noticed a sweet taste on his hand while refining coal tar derivatives. It was later commercialized by him as a sugar substitute. Today, besides saccharin, other approved artificial sweeteners include aspartame, sucralose, neotame, acesulfame-K, and advantame.
Distracted driving is doing another activity while driving, such as texting, talking on a cell phone, eating, thinking about something, and other disruptive activities. Since many people are on the road during the Holiday Season, this behavior becomes even more important from a public health perspective.
The causation and risk factors of gambling disorder are complex, with both genetic and environmental factors playing a role.
Social and Behavioral Health Experts