University of Vermont
Vermont Center on Behavior and Health 3rd Annual Conference
“Behavior Change, Health, and Health Disparities”
Burlington Hilton Hotel
October 1-2, 2015
October 1
7:30 Breakfast & Registration
8:00-8:15 Welcome
Stephen T. Higgins, Ph.D., Director, Vermont Center on Behavior and Health,
Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Vermont
Frederick C. Morin III, M.D., Dean of the College of Medicine, University of Vermont
Welcome Video: U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont
8:30-9:25 Keynote Address
Session Chair: John R. Hughes, M.D., Vermont Center on Behavior and Health,
Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Family Practice, University of Vermont
American Health Improvement Depends on Addressing Class Disparities
Steven A. Schroeder, M.D., Department of Medicine, USCF Distinguished Professor of
Health and Health Care, Departments of Medicine, University of California, San
Francisco
Panel on Behavioral Economics of Addictions and Health Disparities
Session Chair: Jack E. Henningfield, Ph.D., Pinney Associates, Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine
9:30-9:55 Some Current Dimensions of the Behavioral Economics of Health Behavior
Change
Warren K Bickel, Director, Addiction Recovery Research Center, Professor of
Psychiatry and Psychology, Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute
8/11/15
10:00-10:25 Laboratory Research on the Behavioral Economics of Tobacco among
Individuals with Serious Mental Illness
Jennifer Tidey, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Human
Behavior, Brown University
10:30-10:55 Behavioral Economics and Vulnerability to Tobacco Use in Economically
Disadvantaged Women
Stephen T. Higgins, Ph.D., Director, Vermont Center on Behavior and Health,
Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Vermont
11:00-11:25 Behavioral Economic Interventions among Chronically Unemployed
Intravenous Drug Abusers
Kenneth Silverman, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns
Hopkins University School of Medicine
11:30-11:55 TBA
12:00-12:55 LUNCH (Boxed Lunches Provided)
12:00-12:55 SPECIAL EVENT: NIH & FDA FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR EARLY CAREER
INVESTIGATORS
Samia D. Noursi, Ph.D., Deputy Coordinator, Women and Sex/Gender Differences
Research, National Institute on Drug Abuse
Dana M. van Bemmel, Ph.D., MPH. Assistant Deputy for Research, Office of Science,
Center for Tobacco Products, Food and Drug Administration
Panel on Behavioral Economics & Reinforcement in Obesity
Session Chair: Warren K. Bickel, Ph.D., Director, Addiction Recovery Research
Center, Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology, Virginia Tech Carilion Research
Institute
1:00-1:25 The Addiction Potential of Highly Palatable Foods
Nicole Avena, Ph.D., Research Professor, New York Obesity Research Center,
Department of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
1:30-1:55 Greater Reward Region Response to Food Predicts Weight Gain: Using
Response Training to Reduce this Vulnerability Factor
Eric Stice, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, Oregon Research Institute
2:00-2:25 Sensitization of the Reinforcing Value of Food: What Food and Drugs Have in
Common
Jennifer L. Temple, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences &
Community Health and Health Behavior, University of Buffalo, The State University
of New York
8/11/15
2:30-2:55 Putting the Brakes on Obesity: A Reinforcement Pathology Approach
Leonard H. Epstein, Ph.D., Department of Pediatrics, SUNY Distinguished Professor,
Departments of Pediatrics and Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Buffalo,
The State University of New York
3:00-3:20 Panel Discussion
Panel on Financial Incentives for Improving Public Health: U.S. and Global
Applications
Session Chair: George Bigelow, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral
Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
3:25-3:50 Reducing Obesity using Financial Incentives and Social Gaming Strategies
Tricia M Leahey, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Allied Health Sciences,
University of Connecticut
3:55-4:20 Financial Incentives to Impact Demand for Medical Male Circumcision to
Combat HIV Infection in Africa
Rebecca Thornton, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University
of Michigan
4:25-4:50 Behavioral Economics for Reducing Unplanned Pregnancies in
Disadvantaged Populations
Sarah H. Heil, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Vermont Center on Behavior and Health,
Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Vermont
4:55-5:20 TBA
5:30-7:30 DINNER (ON YOUR OWN)
7:30-9:00 POSTER SESSION
October 2
7:30-8:00 Breakfast
Panel on Curbing Tobacco Use in Disadvantaged/Vulnerable Populations
8:00-8:05 Welcome
Stephen T. Higgins, Ph.D., Director, Vermont Center on Behavior and Health,
Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Vermont
8:10-8:30 State Perspective: Impact of Tobacco Use in Disadvantaged/Vulnerable
Populations on the Health of Vermont
Harry Chen, M.D., Commissioner, Vermont Department of Health
8/11/15
8:35-8:55 Federal Perspective: Scientific Efforts to Curb Tobacco Use in
Disadvantaged/Vulnerable Populations
Michele Bloch, M.D., Ph.D., Chief, Tobacco Control Research Branch, National Cancer
Institute
Session Chair: Terry F. Pechacek, Ph.D., Professor & Interim Division Director of Health
Management & Policy, Georgia State University, Georgia State TCORS
9:00-9:20 Intersections Among Risk Factors for Cigarette Smoking in a U.S. Nationally
Representative Sample
Stephen T. Higgins, Ph.D., Director, Vermont Center on Behavior and Health,
Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Vermont
9:25-9:45 Tobacco Use Health Outcomes and Risk Perceptions in
Disadvantaged/VulnerablePopulations
Matthew A. Maccani, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Scholar in Public Health Sciences, Penn
State University, College of Medicine
9:50-10:00 BREAK
10:00-10:20 Tobacco Marketing to Disadvantaged/Vulnerable Populations
Tess Cruz, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Institute for Health Promotion & Disease
Prevention Research, University of Southern California
10:25-10:45 The Effects of Taxation and Smoke-free Legislation on Smoking and Heart
Disease Inequalities
Erin Mead, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science
University of Maryland, School of Public Health
10:50-11:10 Tobacco Use Among Individuals with Comorbid Medical Conditions in a
U.S. Nationally Representative Sample
Cassandra A. Stanton, Ph.D., Westat, Assistant Professor, Department of Oncology,
Georgetown University Medical Center, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center,
11:15-11:35 Tobacco Use Among those with Co-Morbid Substance Use Disorders
Andrea Weinberger, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology, Ferkauf Graduate
School of Psychology, Yeshiva University
11:40-12:00 Use of e-Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Among Women of
Reproductive Age
Laura Chivers, Ph.D., Administrator of Undergraduate Studies, Department of
Psychology, Harvard University
12:00-12:55 LUNCH
Session Chair: John Hughes, M.D., Vermont Center on Behavior and Health, Professor,
Departments of Psychiatry, Family Practice, and Psychology, University of Vermont
8/11/15
1:00-1:20 Predicting Vulnerability to Tobacco Use in Youth in the Imagen Europe Study
Hugh Garavan, Ph.D., Professor, Vermont Center on Behavior and Health,
Departments of Psychiatry & Psychology, University of Vermont
1:25-1:45 Translational Research on Tobacco Use in Women
Sherry McKee, Ph.D., Director, Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory, Clinical
Director, FORDD Addiction Clinic, Assistant Director, Women’s Health Research,
Yale University
1:50-2:10 Challenges in Curbing Tobacco Use in Disadvantaged/Vulnerable
Populations
Judith J. Prochaska, Ph.D., MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine, Stanford
Prevention Research Center, Stanford University
2:20 ADJOURN
8/11/15