Center Overview
Established in 2009, the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Health Behavior Research is an institution-wide collaborative effort, dedicated to conducting health behavior research, fostering advances in measurement of health behaviors, advancing the use of health behavior theory, and promoting collaboration among faculty, fellows, and students. Through theory-based research and a broad focus on measurement of health behavior, the CHBR contributes to both fundamental and applied research to help individuals, populations, and clinicians improve health behaviors and outcomes. The CHBR is a Type I center that is housed within the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB) at the Perelman School of Medicine.
Activities and Collaboration
Measurement of Health Behaviors, their Environments, and Related Constructs
- Developing and pilot testing new measures
- Validation, reliability testing, and scale development
- Formative research, both qualitative and quantitative
- Consultation on proposal development, data collection methods, data reduction, and analysis
Health Behavior Theory
- Matching theoretical approaches to research ideas and designs
- Small-scale research to test theoretical constructs and theory-based hypotheses
- Application of theory for intervention development
- Consultation on proposal development, research design, and analytical methods for theory testing
Training & Mentoring
- Training and mentoring postdoctoral scholars and junior faculty
- Mentoring and employment for students at all levels including MPH, MSCE, PhD students in Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Nursing, and other fields
UPenn Prevention Research Center
- The UPenn PRC is directed by Karen Glanz, PhD, MPH and Kevin Volpp, MD, PhD, and is a catalyst for research in chronic disease prevention and a leader in advancing the science and practice of prevention research.
- Visit the UPenn PRC website for more information.
- Read more about the UPenn PRC research projects: Core Research Project | Special Interest Projects (SIPs)
Core Resources
Service and Consultation
A core goal of the CHBR is to encourage and optimize the quality of health behavior research at Penn. As such, the CHBR has a service component in which consultation can be provided. Areas of expertise and service include:
- Design and testing of novel instruments to evaluate health behavior constructs
- Applying conceptual models to guide health behavior research design
- Assessment of food and physical activity environments
Email Claudia Caponi to request a CHBR consultation.