Health Psychology Doctoral Program psychology.vcu.edu/graduate/health
About us VCU’s health psychology program provides students with the theoretical background and both basic and applied research skills needed to study the psychological, social, cultural and behavioral bases of health and illness.
As part of the VCU Department of Psychology, students study all major areas of theory and research in the field, but their specialized focus is on health and illness processes. The health psychology program is a research-oriented rather than clinical training program that is rich with opportunities for understanding how biological, psychological, behavioral, cultural and social contextual factors influence health and illness. We prepare students for careers at top-tier academic institutions, as well as governmental agencies, and other applied research and health organizations by providing opportunities for students to conduct research and to work in community organizations, clinics, hospitals and other health settings.
The program has a strong commitment to a diverse student body and provides mentorship and experiences for students to be successful across a wide range of research and applied careers. Our training goal is to provide students the tools to enable them to become leaders in health disparity research including communitybased research that targets health disparities and problems in local community, national and international arenas. Health program faculty members hold degrees in various psychology disciplines including social, clinical, counseling and experimental psychology. Faculty have expertise in cultural as well as psychosocial and biological determinants of health. We especially seek student applicants who are committed to diversity and reducing health disparities. Applicants with a passion for community-focused interventions aimed at people who face marginalization in traditional health care systems and in other realms of life are also desired.
Our faculty
Faye Belgrave, Ph.D.
Eric Benotsch, Ph.D.
Caroline Cobb, Ph.D.
Thomas Eissenberg, Ph.D.
Robin Everhart, Ph.D.
Nao Hagiwara, Ph.D.
Kristina Hood, Ph.D.
Paul Perrin, Ph.D.
Joseph Porter, Ph.D.
Cecelia Valrie, Ph.D.
Dr. Faye Belgrave's research is in health disparities, especially HIV and substance abuse prevention among African American youth, women and young adults. Her research is intervention-focused and attends to aspects of culture and community among ethnic minority populations. Recent projects provided culturally integrated substance abuse, HIV prevention and sex education curricula to African American college students and students attending middle school. Dr. Eric Benotsch’s research is in HIV prevention and substance use. His work focuses on the development of novel interventions for the groups most at risk for HIV or problematic substance use, including young adults, gay and bisexual men, injection drug users and transgender adults.
Dr. Robin Everhart’s research focuses on child health psychology, primarily in pediatric asthma, and incorporates a focus on quality of life, health disparities and family systems. Her research highlights the importance of the family system in managing pediatric chronic illnesses, as well as urban The National Science Foundation selected Randl Dent, left, and Ebony Lambert, and cultural stressors that doctoral students in the health psychology doctoral program, as recipients of two of impact child disease its prestigious Graduate Research Fellowships for 2017. management. Dr. Everhart is particularly interested in developing family- psychologists and trainees. The ultimate based models of care that target both goal of his research is to contribute to the caregiver and child health outcomes in design of culturally sensitive structural racial/ethnic minority families. change in health care systems.
Dr. Joseph Porter’s research focuses on the behavioral pharmacology of antipsychotic drugs for treating schizophrenia and antidepressant drugs for treating depression. One of the most important animal models he uses is drug discrimination. In this procedure animals are trained to discriminate between the subjective effects of a drug injection and a vehicle injection. This procedure allows his Dr. Kristina Hood’s research focuses on team to "ask" the rat if other drugs are more preventive health behaviors and promoting like the training drug or the vehicle, and also positive health outcomes among people of allows the exploration of underlying color and underserved populations. More specifically, she is interested in psychosocial pharmacological mechanisms for the Dr. Thomas Eissenberg’s research and behavioral effects of these drugs. determinants of health behavior, health publications are generally concerned with disparities, condom use attitudes and Dr. Cecelia Valrie’s research broadly understanding the effects of a variety of persuasion, and sexual health promotion. A focuses on improving the health and welltobacco/nicotine products. This effort, funded being of children, adolescents and young by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and central aim of her work has been to find adults at risk for poor health outcomes, with the Food and Drug Administration, involves innovative ways to disseminate persuasive messages and implement HIV interventions a primary focus on youth with sickle cell 1) developing and demonstrating methods to to increase the scope of prevention efforts. disease. Specific areas of emphasis evaluate modified risk and other novel include: pediatric pain, sleep, family tobacco products, and 2) understanding the Dr. Paul Perrin's research focuses on knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and effects of multicultural health psychology across three influences and the transition from pediatric to adult care. Her work both informs tobacco smoking using a waterpipe (also domains: 1) cultural, familial and interventions and is focused on developing, known as a hookah). He also serves on two international approaches to disability evaluating and disseminating behavioral federal advisory boards (TPSAC and rehabilitation; 2) gender, racial/ethnic and interventions in these areas, with a focus on SACHRP) and mentors graduate students sexual-orientation influences on health eHealth and mHealth interventions. and post-doctoral trainees. behaviors, and 3) multicultural awareness and competence in health care providers, Dr. Caroline Cobb’s research addresses the role of novel and alternative tobacco products (e.g., hookah/waterpipe, little cigars/cigarillos and electronic cigarettes) in the incidence of tobacco-related disease and death as well as the broader implications of these products for policy and public health. Her current work is particularly focused on the role of tobacco product flavors on abuse liability measures as well as patterns and predictors of poly-substance use patterns such as concurrent tobacco, cannabis and alcohol use.
Dr. Nao Hagiwara’s overall research interest is to better understand affective, cognitive and behavioral processes involved in stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination from the perspectives of both the targets and the instigators of social inequality. Her most recent work focuses on investigating how these processes contribute to racial health and healthcare disparities.
Our students publish peer‐reviewed manuscripts and present at professional conferences
take courses in specialized content areas such as Culture, Ethnicity and Health and Community Intervention learn cutting edge research methods and statistical analyses techniques such as structural equation modeling and hierarchical linear modeling
engage in mixed methods research and conduct both qualitative and quantitative research receive external funding from federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation for dissertation and other research have opportunities for conducting community-based research both nationally and internationally
experience multiple cross‐disciplinary collaborative opportunities with faculty and departments in the School of Medicine and other units at the university
How to apply General information about graduate study at VCU can be obtained from the VCU Graduate School website at graduate.vcu.edu. Application for graduate study in psychology with an emphasis in health psychology should be initiated online from the VCU Graduate School admissions page at graduate.admissions.vcu.edu/apply/. Please note that there is not a separate application for the program or department. The application deadline for admission is December 1.
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