“SBS Think Tanks + Themes”
We are engaging in exciting new initiatives, drawing from disciplines as diverse as psychology, sociology, anthropology and political science to critically analyze and arrive at strategies to address pressing public health problems. We are accomplishing this through annual “Think Tanks + Themes” to advance critical discussions in the following areas:
1) 2023-2024 Theme of “Harm Reduction and Stigma” addresses use of the harm reduction approach to improve problems in population health (e.g., smoking, drug use and alcohol). Events are currently being planned to address this Theme in the coming academic year.
2) 2022-2023 Theme of “Intervention Science” in how to evaluate and implement interventions based on evidence-based practices. To strengthen MPH students’ skills in this area, we are offering SBS and CHSP students an elective course sequence covering this topic area (see below for full description of Event).
3) 2021-2022 Theme of “War, Displacement, and Public Health” on the impact of the war on displaced populations from Ukraine and the profound public health impact of mass displacement using social science/public health perspectives (see below for full description of Event).
Intervention Optimization: GPH’s Answer to the Public Health Challenge of Behavior Change (April 19, 2023)
Human behavior is a determining factor in many diseases, both non-communicable (cancer, heart disease) and communicable (HIV, COVID-19). Interventions aimed at changing human behavior, for example helping people to quit smoking or to engage fully in the HIV care continuum, could potentially save hundreds of millions of lives worldwide.
Faculty in the SBS department in GPH are on the vanguard of a movement to reinvent the scientific paradigm for development of behavioral interventions. Led by GPH’s Center for Advancement and Dissemination of Intervention Optimization (CADIO; led by Dr. Linda Collins), these faculty are working within a framework that integrates ideas from several disparate fields, including behavioral science, implementation science, industrial engineering, decision analysis, and health economics. This framework, which can be applied in any area of public health, enables development of optimized interventions for unparalleled effectiveness and efficiency.
This event offered a brief, nontechnical introduction to the new intervention optimization paradigm (Dr. Linda Collins), and then featured intervention optimization work in HIV (Dr. Marya Gwardz), smoking cessation (Dr. Jennifer Cantrell), prevention of cardiovascular disease (Dr. Stephanie Cook), and child maltreatment (Dr. Kate Guastaferro). An open discussion and a reception then followed.
The Public Health Challenge of Displacement: The War on Ukraine (April 26, 2022)
This event described on-the-ground events in Ukraine followed by an analysis from social science/public health perspectives. These presentations provided an analysis of the impact of the war on displaced populations from Ukraine and the profound public health impact of mass displacement.
Halyna Skipalska, HealthRight Country Director for Ukraine and the Executive Director of the Ukrainian Foundation for Public Health, described the current conditions in Ukraine. This was followed by critical analysis from faculty in the Department of SBS, who analyzed the population health impacts of this displacement from perspectives of disaster science (Dr. David Abrahamson), child maltreatment (Dr. Kate Guastaferro), and migration stigma (Dr. Lawrence Yang). Integration of these social-behavioral science perspectives was undertaken by Dr. Ralph Diclemente.
Events
SBS Picnic in the Park - Washington Square Park-April 20, 2023
The SBS Department (students, staff, and faculty) got together for a picnic in Washington Square Park by the Play Hills. It was a sun filled afternoon with great food, socializing, and lawn games.
SBS Department Holiday Celebration - December 9, 2023
The SBS Department enjoyed celebrating the end of a successful school year over food, music, and games with fellow students & colleague's!
