Social and Behavioral Sciences Granted Department Status

Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) is becoming a fully independent department within the Yale School of Public Health effective July 1, 2017.

The Social and Behavioral Sciences Program was established in 2002 as part of what was then the Division of Chronic Disease Epidemiology. The late Professor Stanislav Kasl was its first director. Professor Jeannette Ickovics took over leadership in 2003, Professor Becca Levy was head from 2012-15, and Professor Trace Kershaw has led the division since 2015. Kershaw will continue to lead SBS as a department.

The program was created to provide specialized instruction in the theory and methods of the social and behavioral sciences which emphasize the behavioral, social and structural influences on health, illness and recovery.

The new department provides students with a tailored approach to building skills in social and behavioral sciences that they can apply to research, community engagement and public health practice.

“Social and behavioral sciences have an ever-increasing role to play in health and society, as disparities and barriers become more drastic across the world” said Kershaw.

Faculty research specialties include HIV/AIDS, aging health, community-engaged health research, maternal child health, mental health, health equity and disparities, and stigma prevention and health.

Nine ladder-track faculty, five research scientists and 14 secondary professors and lecturers are in this new department. Enrollment in the fall is expected to include 78 M.P.H. students and seven doctoral students. With SBS, there are now six full departments within the school.

SBS aims to understand and improve health equity, both domestically and globally. Through an interdisciplinary approach, students learn the theory and methods of the social and behavioral sciences that emphasize individual, interpersonal, community and structural influences on health, illness and recovery. SBS’ primary emphases are on understanding the psychosocial, behavioral, community and societal influences on health in the general population, with a focus on those who are disadvantaged; and creating multilevel interventions that eliminate barriers to health, from infancy to old age.

“The creation of this department will afford a clearly defined identity and help improve recruitment and retention of faculty and students, operational efficiency and equity within the School of Public Health,” said Dean Sten H. Vermund.