Health & Society

Center for Health and Behavior series features ‘Confessions of an NIH Science Officer’

Monday, March 8, 2010, By News Staff

Andrew Forsyth G’99, program officer with the National Institute of Mental Health, will present “Confessions of an NIH Science Officer,” at Friday, March 12, at 8:30 a.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons in E.S. Bird Library. His presentation is part of the Center for Health and Behavior‘s Spring Seminar Series.

The National Institute of Mental Health is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health. Forsyth oversees the NIMH Primary HIV Prevention research portfolio, which seeks to advance understanding of the interaction between biological, psychological, behavioral and social factors that influence the acquisition of HIV in adults. One of his primary areas of interest is the intersection of biomedical and behavioral strategies to curb HIV infection, such as microbicides, male circumcision and pre-exposure prophylaxis.

In October 2009, he completed a 1,500-mile off-road motorcycle trip through South Africa’s Wild Coast; he will discuss the trip and other key influences on his career since he earned his Ph.D. in psychology at SU in 1999.

For more information, contact Rebecca Bostwick, Center for Health & Behavior, at 443-4629 or rabostwi@syr.edu.