Center for Transformative Research on Health Behaviors
CENTER FOR TRANSFORMATIVE
RESEARCH ON HEALTH BEHAVIORS
About the Center for Transformative Research on Health Behaviors
The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Center for Transformative Research on Health Behaviors uses research to help prevent and treat lifestyle-related diseases. The center focuses on three styles of research: neurobiology and decision-making sciences, molecular and clinical metabolic sciences, and implementation, dissemination, and health policy sciences. This innovative center works to achieve great synergy of research on lifestyle-related diseases with strong collaboration from investigators at the Virginia Tech Carilion Health Sciences and Technology campus in Roanoke, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, faculty in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, faculty in the College of Science, and Carilion Clinic. Partnership growth is anticipated with faculty from multiple colleges and institutes, given the broad expanse of the Center’s research interests, from physiology to policy.
Contacts
- Director: Warren K. Bickel, Ph.D.
- Associate Director: Alexandra DiFeliceantonio, Ph.D.
- Associate Director: Jeff Stein, Ph.D.
RFA – Pilot Feasibility (P/F) for VT/Carilion Collaborations and Health Behaviors Related Studies
In a partnership with the Carilion Clinic Research Acceleration Program (RAP), the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the office of the Virginia Tech Vice President of Health Sciences and Technology, and the CTRHB, we will fund at least three health behaviors-related P/F studies up to $20,000/year.
Research Focus: P/F studies focused on areas of research related to health behaviors are designed to provide initial project support for new investigators; allow for exploration of possible innovative new directions for established investigators that represent a significant departure from ongoing funded research; and stimulate investigators from other areas of endeavor to use their expertise for health behaviors research.
Proposals should align with the mission of Carilion Clinic – to improve the health of the communities we serve and also seek to advance care through medical education and research – and with the mission and foci of the CTRHB. Our mission is to conduct and disseminate transformative health behaviors research with the primary objective of preventing and treating life-style related disease. The primary foci of the CTRHB include:
1. Neurobiology of decision making – Examples include: neural and behavioral manipulations and bases of metabolic disease (obesity, prediabetes, and diabetes), eating and physical activity behaviors, addiction, and medical compliance.
2. Molecular and Clinical Studies of Metabolism – Examples include: molecular and cellular mechanisms of metabolic disease; clinical relevance and efficacy of basic discoveries; and mechanisms of variation in responses to interventions (e.g., physical activity, behavioral, pharmaceutical, and dietary interventions).
3. Implementation and Dissemination of Evidence-based Programming; and Health-policy – Examples include: nutrition and physical activity – across the lifespan; behavioral economics; built environment; food insecurity; food and beverage marketing.
Eligibility: P/F funding is intended to support collaborative proposals from full time Virginia Tech faculty members and Carilion Clinic Health Practitioners. Funding will only be awarded to applications that are collaborations between Virginia Tech and Carilion Clinic, and priority will be given to proposals that demonstrate a high likelihood of future NIH funding. Investigators will be expected to follow their projects up with an NIH grant submission in order to be eligible for additional future funding through this program.
Eligible investigators include:
- New investigators without current or past NIH research project support;
- Established investigators with no previous work in health behaviors research;
- Established investigators in health behaviors with a proposal to test an innovative idea representing a significant departure from ongoing, externally funded projects;
- Post-doctoral fellows with a co-investigator who is senior faculty mentor who has a strong record of NIH funding as a PI in an area related to the proposed research, and who will agree to provide guidance throughout the conduct of the proposed study.
Procedure:
- Please provide a letter of intent, to include: title, PI(s), and an abstract (<500 words) that highlight the background and significance, hypothesis, specific aims, experimental design and procedures of the project by February 3, 2020.
- Please also provide an NIH biographical sketch for PI(s) with the letter of intent by February 3, 2020.
- Invitations for complete proposals will be made no later than February 17, 2020.
- Final applications will be due April 17, 2020, and should be a maximum of six-pages using the NIH R21 format.
- Awardees will be notified of funding no later than May 15, 2020.
- The funding period will be July 1, 2020 – June 15, 2021, and a timeline for completion of proposed work should be included in the final proposal.
- Letters of intent, NIH biographical sketches and final applications are to be submitted below or emailed to ctrhb@vt.edu.
Investigators are encouraged to contact Dr. Warren Bickel (wkbickel@vt.edu; 540-526-2088), Dr. Matthew Hulver (hulvermw@vt.edu; 540-231-7354), or Dr. Francis Farrell (fxfarrell@carilionclinic.org; 540-224-4710) to determine their eligibility and the appropriateness of their project. Acceptance of funding will indicate agreement to submit a grant application for extramural funding to continue the project and to provide a written final report.
Pre-Diabetes Research Study
The purpose of this 6-month weight loss research program is to examine different versions of a behavioral intervention of weight control, diabetes prevention, and decision making in adults with prediabetes. Compensation up to $150.
Participation involves:
- Strategies to decrease your risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes
- Methods to help you develop lifelong eating and activity habits
- Meal and physical activity planning with a trained interventionist
- Use of an evidence-based program shown to help participants lose about 20 lbs
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Home ItemBickel Lab , home
The Bickel Lab studies dysfunctional decision-making and interventions to help people battling addiction make healthier choices.
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Home ItemHowell Lab , home
The Howell Lab studies ways to improve mother-infant health outcomes by exploring the factors that influence healthy infant brain and behavioral development.
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Home ItemShin Lab , home
The Shin Lab aims to understand the role of brain circuit-specific mechanisms using translationally relevant animal models of stress-induced psychiatric diseases.
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Article ItemNew Fralin Biomedical Research Institute faculty member links nature, nurture, and early brain development , article
Brittany Howell, assistant professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, studies how maternal characteristics and behavior impact brain development in infants. Howell will start recruiting new mothers to participate in her lab’s research studies in 2020.
Date: Dec 12, 2019 -
Article ItemFralin Biomedical Research Institute addiction scientist to receive international honor for translational research , article
Addiction researcher Warren Bickel, the Virginia Tech Carilion Behavioral Health Research Professor, will receive the Scientific Translation Award from the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis on Saturday in Chicago, Illinois.
Date: May 23, 2019 -
Article ItemCenter for Transformative Research on Health Behaviors selects projects to tackle lifestyle-related diseases , article
Collaborative teams of Virginia Tech and Carilion Clinic investigators are exploring the consequences of destructive health behavior in people struggling with poor adherence to breast cancer treatment regimes, opioid dependence, and cardiovascular disease.
Date: Jan 04, 2019 -
Article ItemResearchers study parallels in how some cancer survivors and people with addiction value the future , article
People more recently diagnosed with cancer are more likely to drink alcohol, use tobacco, and frequent tanning beds than people in later stages of recovery, according to a research team from the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Date: Nov 30, 2018 -
Article ItemAddiction experts from VTCRI and Stanford call for more neuroscience research on long-term recovery , article
September is addiction recovery month, and, in the midst of the current opioid epidemic, it’s an apt moment for addiction research experts to map the future path forward for a long-term recovery strategy for substance abuse.
Date: Sep 25, 2018 -
Article ItemVTCRI professor to discuss artificial intelligence, psychology at international conference workshop , article
The worlds of addiction research and artificial intelligence research are colliding for Warren Bickel, a professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute.
Date: Jul 11, 2018 -
Article ItemNew center for health behaviors research to officially open on Roanoke campus , article
Leonard Epstein, creator of the Traffic Light Diet, will deliver a guest lecture on Sept. 27 at 5:30 p.m. at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute. The lecture, which is open to the public, will mark the opening of the Center for Transformative Research in Health Behaviors at VTCRI.
Date: Sep 21, 2017 -
Article ItemBehavioral health scholar launches first interdisciplinary conference on decision-making processes , article
The conference participants study similar underlying principles of different chronic health conditions, such as obesity, or risky health behaviors, like not complying with medical advice. The meeting will be the first time many participants will have a chance to interact.
Date: May 23, 2017 -
Article ItemCenter for Transformative Research on Health Behaviors rises on Health Sciences and Technology campus , article
Scientists and clinicians throughout Virginia Tech and Carilion Clinic will join forces at the new VTCRI Center for Transformative Research on Health Behaviors in an effort to protect the health of people in Virginia and the United States
Date: May 17, 2017 -
Article ItemAddiction scholar honored with career achievement award , article
The College on Problems of Drug Dependence selected Warren Bickel as the 2016 recipient of the Nathan B. Eddy Award.
Date: Apr 05, 2016 -
Article ItemEndowed professorships named for Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute scholars , article
Warren Bickel is the first Virginia Tech Carilion Behavioral Science Research Professor, and P. Read Montague is the first Virginia Tech Carilion Vernon Mountcastle Research Professor.
Date: Mar 24, 2016 -
Article ItemScientists earn grant to research potential behavioral treatment in prediabetic individuals , article
Warren Bickel, a professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, recently received a $2.4 million grant to investigate and improve maladaptive decision-making that may contribute to Type 2 diabetes.
Date: Nov 13, 2015 -
Article ItemVirginia Tech Carilion Research Institute scientist selected for honorary society , article
The Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research recently recognized Bickel and his work by selecting him as a fellow.
Date: Feb 04, 2015 -
Article ItemAddicts who live in the moment may benefit most from certain kinds of treatment , article
An analysis across addictions and across treatments suggests that a simple cognitive test may be able to predict a treatment’s success for individuals struggling with addiction, according to a study led by an addiction expert at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute.
Date: Mar 31, 2014 -
Article ItemSmoking abstinence research receives major financial boost , article
Warren Bickel, an internationally recognized addiction expert at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, recently received a $3.2-million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for research on improving self-control in smokers seeking to quit cigarettes.
Date: Aug 29, 2013 -
Article ItemAddiction researcher optimistic about new, highly visual labels that show ill effects of smoking , article
Addiction researcher Warren Bickel of the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute is optimistic about the effectiveness of the FDA's graphic warning labels that will go on cigarette packs in 2012.
Date: Jun 27, 2011 -
Article ItemLeading researcher to head new Center for Substance Abuse at Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute , article
Leading addiction researcher Warren Bickel will head the new Center for Substance Abuse at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute.
Date: Jan 28, 2011
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General ItemVirtual Seminar: Aerobic Fitness and Susceptibility for Metabolic Dysfunction
April 16, 2021, 11 a.m. | John Thyfault, Ph.D. | Pioneers in Biomedical Research Seminar Series
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General ItemVirtual Seminar: The Application of Digital Health to Behavioral Health: State of the Science and Vision for the Future
May 28, 2021, 11 a.m. | Lisa Marsch, Ph.D. | Pioneers in Biomedical Research Seminar Series