unlv students walking on campus

Department of Social and Behavioral Health News

Housed in the UNLV 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

Fall colors 2025
Campus News |

Some of the biggest news headlines featuring UNLV 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 UNLV’s staff and students.

Spring flowers
Campus News |

The students and faculty of UNLV are springing into headlines around the country.

Tim Grigsby sitting on a UNLV 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.

A UNLV student studies with the Strip in the distance.
Campus News |

Headlines and highlights featuring the students and faculty of UNLV.

Social and Behavioral Health In The News

Las Vegas Review Journal

Legislative proposals to sunset daylight savings time have come, stalled or gone away, and spring forward season is again upon Nevada. That means later sunrises and sunsets, but it also means the need to adjust clocks — both external and internal.

New India Abroad

Federal crash statistics show that distracted driving was a factor in about eight percent of all fatal crashes nationwide in recent years.

Indica News

Smart toilets are an emerging technological advancement, especially for older adults, as non-invasive, passive, continuous home-based diagnostic tools available to the healthcare industry.

Health

It’s well-established that stretching during exercise can prevent injuries and improve performance. But stretching may provide a range of health benefits even when you’re not working out. Daily stretching can improve circulation, enhance posture, and promote mental health, to name a few perks. Growing evidence suggests it may improve blood sugar levels and joint health, too.

Las Vegas Weekly

In 2024, the dating app Feeld and a fellow from the Kinsey Institute released The State of Dating Report, a study that surveyed more than 3,000 Feeld members between the ages of 18-75 from 71 countries. The findings were striking: Nearly half of Gen Z respondents surveyed were single compared to one-fifth of older generations. Thirty-seven percent of Gen Zers reported not having any sex in the last month—matching the sexual frequency of surveyed Boomers—and they were twice as likely to say they longed for monogamy than older generations. Feeld’s reputation as a kink and hookup app makes these discoveries even more surprising. 

India Currents

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is characterized by mood variations with a change in season, especially during the winter months, with reduced daylight.

Social and Behavioral Health Experts

An expert on drug misuse and addiction.
An expert on health disparities and LGBTQ aging adults with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
An expert on lactation, breastfeeding, and maternal and child health and nutrition.
An expert on health behavior and coping with stress.

Recent Social and Behavioral Health Accomplishments

Manoj Sharma (Social and Behavioral Health; Internal Medicine) coauthored an article titled, “Intention to reduce dietary salt and its influencing factors in middle-aged and older hypertensive patients: A theory of planned behavior-based cross-sectional study,” in collaboration with researchers from Chongqing Medical University in the journal,…
Manoj Sharma and Mahsa Pashaeimeykola (both Social and Behavioral Health) presented and published a paper titled “Open education utilizing open pedagogy in enlisting and training graduate scholars in public health” in the Proceedings of the 20th Annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference held in Valencia, Spain. The…
Manoj Sharma, Asma Awan, Vikash Patel, Aastha Poudel (all Social & Behavioral Health), Badrunisa Hanif, Tooba Laeeq, and Sandhya Wahi-Gururaj (all Medicine) authored an article titled “A theory-based approach to predict stress relaxation behavior among South Asian Americans: A cross-sectional study” in the International Journal of…
Rupam Mitra and Mahsa Pashaeimeykola (both Social & Behavioral Health) have been selected to receive the Emerging Scholar Award at the Sixteenth International Conference organized by Health, Wellness & Society to be held at the University of Guadalajara in México on 10-11 September 2026. Mitra and Pashaeimeykola are both doctoral…
Asma Awan (Social and Behavioral Health), Robert S Levrant (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute), and Manoj Sharma (Social and Behavioral Health) have recently published a study titled, "Prologue to the Multi-Theory Model (MTM) of Health Behavior Change: A Phenomenological Case Study to Determine Vaping Cessation Strategies Among Young Adults," in…
Manoj Sharma (Social and Behavioral Health; Internal Medicine) published the article, “Global burden of amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine and opioid use in 204 countries, 1990-2023: A Global Burden of Disease Study,” as a senior collaborator in the journal, Nature Medicine (Impact factor 50.0). Drug use disorders (DUDs) are among the rising global…