Data registry + early career mentoring + undergrad research + community impact.
Mission
Virginia Commonwealth University's Institute for Research on Behavioral and Emotional Health (IRBEH) is an interdisciplinary institute with the mission of advancing scientific understanding in the area of behavioral and emotional health, and applying this knowledge to support mental health and wellbeing in our university and the broader community, through innovative coursework, programming and collaborations.
Goals
- Maintain and grow the Spit for Science Registry as a research resource for VCU and the broader scientific community.
- Provide mentoring, networking, and community-bridging opportunities for faculty and trainees working in the area of behavioral and emotional health.
- Grow undergraduate research opportunities, with special attention to serving students traditionally underrepresented in the sciences.
- Develop programs aimed at bringing research to the community
Meet our team
IRBEH leadership
Karen Chartier, Ph.D.
- Director, IRBEH
- Social Work, Psychiatry
- kgchartier@vcu.edu
Ananda Amstadter, Ph.D.
- Associate Director, IRBEH
- Chair, Traumatic Stress and Mental Health Outcomes Working Group
- Psychiatry, Psychology, and Human and Molecular Genetics
- ananda.amstadter@
vcuhealth.org
Working group chairs
Oswaldo Moreno, Ph.D.
- Chair, Minoritized Ethnic and Racial Students' Experiences Working Group
- Psychology
- oamoreno@vcu.edu
Traci Wike, Ph.D.
- Chair, Facilitating Positive Outcomes for LGBTQIA Students Working Group
- Social Work
- twike@vcu.edu
Hermine Maes, Ph.D.
- Chair, Tobacco Use Working Group
- Human and Molecular Genetics
- hermine.maes@
vcuhealth.org
Roseann Peterson, Ph.D.
- Chair, Statistical Genetics Working Group (S4S StatGen)
- Psychiatry
- roseann.peterson@
vcuhealth.org
Christina Sheerin, Ph.D.
- Chair, Substance use, Disorder, and Recovery Working Group
- Psychiatry
- christina.sheerin@
vcuhealth.org
Methodology cores
Amy Adkins, Ph.D.
- Lead, Undergraduate Research Core
- African American Studies
- adkinsae@vcu.edu
Adrienne Baldwin-White, Ph.D.
- Lead, Translational Research Core
- Social Work
- baldwinwhia@vcu.edu
Katie Bountress, Ph.D.
- Lead, Statistical Modeling Core
- Psychiatry
- kaitlin.bountress@
vcuhealth.org
Featured in The New York Times
A story from April 2023 cited a study by VCU IRBEH faculty in the Journal of American College Health that found 70 percent of college students report that they have been exposed to at least one traumatic event.
IRBEH & related news
Oct. 25, 2023: How I found my research: Paloma Rodriguez seeks to study the toughest challenges that underrepresented communities face
April 4, 2023: VCU summer program gave psychology major Vanessa Olazabal a GREAT research subject: fellow Rams
April 18, 2022: One conversation led to exciting research projects and ‘a new passion’
March 5, 2022: Social work’s Chartier to lead behavioral health research institute and its signature survey