Objectives
Specific Objectives and Areas of Emphasis
Specific Objectives
- To train individuals to formulate, independently, a research question, and design and conduct a rigorous study to answer that question
- To help individuals acquire the necessary methodological expertise across several disciplines (e.g., behavioral sciences, biostatistics, epidemiology, disease prevention, bioethics, policy) necessary for future investigative work
- To expose individuals with a clinical background to the broad array of behavioral sciences, and to expose individuals with a behavioral science background to the intricacies of heart and vascular diseases
- To train individuals to present and publish the results of their scholarly work
- To teach individuals to appraise, critically, the scientific literature
- To help individuals identify a focus for future research and scholarly work and to develop special investigative expertise related to it.
- To train individuals to write a grant proposal according to the guidelines of the NIH or other potential funding agencies
Areas of Special Emphasis
The program has three primary behavioral science content emphases: Lifestyle and Behavior Change and Maintenance, Social and Cultural Factors, and Cognition/Neuropsychology of Heart and Vascular Diseases.
In addition, all fellows receive training and exposures in topics including:
- Behavioral, psychosocial, and economic factors and mechanisms in cardiovascular health and illness
- Risk factors: identification and modification
- Novel risk factors and mechanisms
- High blood pressure prevention and control
- Diabetes prevention and control
- Obesity, weight loss and weight loss maintenance
- Social determinants of health: identification and intervention
- Minority health: addressing gaps and disparities in health status
- Women’s cardiovascular health
- Methodologies for lifestyle/behavioral trials, community-based trials, and community-based participatory research
- Systems and multi-level interventions for improving cardiovascular outcomes
- Technologies for delivering lifestyle and behavioral interventions
- Measurement and self-monitoring methods
- Translation of research into practice and policy
- Ethical issues