Joseph Ditre
The College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) is pleased to announce the opening of the Center for Health Behavior Research and Innovation (CHBRI). The center will promote and support innovative health behavior research, training and community outreach endeavors across disciplines in A&S and will work with other University research centers that study behavioral health.
The center’s inaugural director is Joseph Ditre, professor of psychology. A faculty member at Syracuse University since 2012, Ditre’s program of translational clinical research involves basic and applied work in the areas of health psychology and behavioral medicine, with an emphasis on the intersection of substance use and chronic pain.
As director of CHBRI, Ditre will help promote connections among faculty that extend beyond departments and colleges. These partnerships will allow researchers to better understand and address the complex impact of individual and group actions, behaviors and decisions on physical and mental health, disease development and management, and overall well-being.
Signature areas of focus include behavioral determinants of health such as substance use, diet, exercise and sleep; the interplay of psychosocial factors like stress, resilience, trauma, cognition and affective processes; the application of emerging technologies such as biometric monitoring, mobile intervention delivery and virtual reality; and the adaptation and integration of personalized treatments.
Biopsychosocial and behavioral factors influence all states of health, disease and human thriving, and Syracuse University is well-positioned to make additional important contributions to the field by leveraging shared expertise.
—Joseph Ditre
According to Ditre, the center will support collaboration among faculty whose work spans the translational spectrum of health behavior research, from human laboratory studies to the development and subsequent implementation of innovative assessment and intervention approaches.
CHBRI has three areas of emphasis:
Building on the University’s existing strengths and resources related to the field of military and veteran studies, one of the center’s first major projects will be a collaboration between A&S, the Office of Research and the D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF). This initiative will establish a health behavior research program with an emphasis on promoting mental and behavioral health, well-being and resilience among veteran and military populations. Through this partnership, the center will hire two postdoctoral scholars to help establish and grow the IVMF/CHBRI collaboration.
According to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, over 5 million veterans experience a behavioral health condition each year. Furthermore, over half of veterans with a mental illness and more than 90% of those experiencing a substance use disorder did not receive treatment in the past year. With behavioral health being a key driver of overall health, the work at CHBRI will yield essential insights that iteratively inform the development and dissemination of innovative and scalable programs and services.
A&S Dean Behzad Mortazavi notes that Ditre’s extensive history of collaborative research and work with the veteran population make him the perfect person to lead this effort. “Thanks to the collaborations that will be fostered by Professor Ditre and the center, our faculty and students will be contributing to much needed improvements in health care and health equity,” says Mortazavi.
Duncan Brown, vice president for research and Charles Brightman Endowed Professor of Physics says, “The Office of Research is enthusiastic to support this new collaboration between Arts and Sciences and the D’Aniello Institute. The new center will open possibilities for new research collaborations not just between psychology and the IVMF’s research team, but across many different research areas at Syracuse that impact behavioral health. The center’s research is closely aligned with our excellence in the area of human thriving and the University’s goal of being the best place for veterans.”
J. Michael Haynie, vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation and executive director of IVMF says, “The vision for advancing Syracuse University’s commitment to veterans and military families has always been to engage partners across the University in the work of the IVMF. This new center is a high-potential example of that vision in practice and is well-positioned to positively impact the health and well-being of the nation’s veterans and military-connected populations.”
