The Center for Behavior and Health

The Center for Behavior and Health is building a community of scholars and clinicians at Johns Hopkins to tackle one of medicine’s biggest challenges in the 21^st century: changing behavior to prevent and better manage illness.

As medicine continues to make strides in understanding the genomic, proteomic, cellular and physiologic mechanisms of major diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, metabolic disorders, and immunological diseases, the role of behavior in the development, maintenance, and trajectory of these diseases remain poorly integrated into healthcare and disease prevention programs.

Changing human behaviors, such as dietary choices, sedentary lifestyles, sleep habits, and addictions are often seen as insurmountable to patients and physicians alike. Yet a vast and accumulating body of research in the science of behavior change suggests otherwise.

This interdisciplinary endeavor is led by the Departments of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Sleep, obesity, and sedentary lifestyles are the focus of our initial energies. We host visiting scholars and organize lectures, make grants for research projects by Hopkins faculty and staff, and are developing this website to soon be a toolbox of behavioral resources for providers and patients within the institution.