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Department of Social and Behavioral Health News

Housed in the 性视界传媒 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

spring campus
Campus News |

Some of the most vibrant headlines featuring 性视界传媒 faculty and students.

Fall colors 2025
Campus News |

Some of the biggest news headlines featuring 性视界传媒 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 性视界传媒鈥檚 staff and students.

Spring flowers
Campus News |

The students and faculty of 性视界传媒 are springing into headlines around the country.

Tim Grigsby sitting on a 性视界传媒 bench in the Academic Mall
People |

After an unexpected start in public health, this professor of social and behavioral health is uncovering the complexities of substance misuse and childhood trauma.

Social and Behavioral Health In The News

Indica News

Antidepressants are prescription medications primarily used to treat depression, anxiety, and several other long-term health conditions. According to a recent article (2026) published in BMJ Mental Health, 16.6% Americans were on antidepressants.

Indica News

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are dietary products usually containing multiple treated industrial ingredients, including substances extracted from foods (oils, fats, sugar, starch) and additives like artificial flavors, colors, or emulsifiers. They are designed to be greatly palatable, convenient, and shelf-stable, and are rapidly replacing fresh foods. Examples include sugary beverages, packaged snacks, ready-to-eat products, packaged breads and cereals, reconstituted meats, and so on. UPFs, including beverages, have now become the leading food consumption patterns around the world. Consumption of UPFs increases the risks for overweight/obesity, heart disease, metabolic disease, diabetes, and cancers.

KVVU-TV: Fox 5

The Class of 2026 includes graduates from 34 states and U.S. territories and 62 countries. Of the graduates, 87% are Nevada residents, with 67% coming from ethnically diverse backgrounds. Nearly half of all students are the first in their family to earn a degree.

Martha Stewart

The next time you head to the grocery store, take a closer look at how many prepackaged foods end up in your cart. Many of these items contain more sugar than you might expect鈥 even those labeled as having natural sugars. Manufacturers frequently add sugar to extend shelf life and to help prevent bacteria or mold from developing. Sugar also plays a role in improving "mouthfeel," giving low-fat products a richer, more satisfying texture, according to Manoj Sharma, a professor and public health physician.

Indica News

A recent article published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology has concluded that sleep-aligned extended overnight fasting improves nighttime and daytime cardiometabolic function. The results support that if at least 3 hours before sleep nothing is eaten, then heart health, blood pressure, and the way food is processed, including glucose regulation, are improved.

The Epoch Times

Manoj Sharma, a tenured professor of social and behavioral health at the 性视界传媒, told The Epoch Times that a constantly busy schedule keeps the brain in a state of high alert, resulting in rapid beta waves visible on an electroencephalogram (EEG). This chronic overactivation depletes energy, leading to stress, burnout, mental fatigue, poor sleep, decreased work efficiency, and emotional neglect.

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.
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

Manoj Sharma (Social & Behavioral Health; Internal Medicine) as a senior collaborator with GBD 2023 Diarrhoeal Disease and Enteric Infectious Diseases, published an article titled, 鈥淕lobal burden of enteric infectious diseases, diarrhoeal diseases, and corresponding aetiologies, 1990鈥2023: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease鈥
Asma Awan (Social and Behavioral Health) and Manoj Sharma (Social and Behavioral Health, Internal Medicine) presented a paper titled, 鈥淥vercoming Workforce Shortages: Evidence from a Structured, Scholarship Experiential Program Linking Academia and Local Health Departments鈥 at the Academy Health, Annual Research Meeting held in Seattle, WA from鈥
Manoj Sharma (Social and Behavioral Health; Internal Medicine) conducted a featured virtual webinar titled, "How to stress less and cope with life challenges effectively" for the "Break ke Baad" group based in Livermore, California. The webinar covered types of stressors, types of coping, and practical techniques based on rational emotive therapy鈥
Nicole DeVille, Miguel Fudolig, Binita Adhikari, Md Maksudul Alam (all Epidemiology and Biostatistics), Gabriela Buccini (Social and Behavioral Health), and Xan Goodman (Libraries) coauthored a paper titled 鈥淏reast Cancer Knowledge and Preventive Practice Among Graduate Students: A Scoping Review鈥 in the journal Cancers. The article assesses the鈥
Tim Grigsby (Environmental and Global Health), Miguel Fudolig (Epidemiology and Biostatistics) Christopher Johansen and Manoj Sharma (Social and Behavioral Health) and Md Sohail Akhter (Ph.D. student) coauthored a paper titled 鈥淓xploring Recreational Cannabis Use Cessation Intentions among Adults in the United States Using the Multi-Theory Model鈥
Manoj Sharma (Social & Behavioral Health; Internal Medicine), as a senior collaborator with GBD 2023 Mental Disorder Collaborators, coauthored an article titled, 鈥淯pdated trends in the global prevalence and burden of mental disorders, 1990-2023: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023鈥 in the journal, The Lancet (鈥