Meet Our Chair
Meet Our Chair
Don Operario, PhD
Don Operario has been the Grace Crum Rollins Professor and Chair of the Department of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences since 2022. With more than two decades of research experience, Operario brings a global and interdisciplinary perspective to his work.
A self-described “community-oriented behavioral social scientist,” he specializes in developing and evaluating theory-based, multi-level interventions to address the synergistic epidemics of HIV, mental health, interpersonal violence, and structural vulnerability.
Operario's dedication to elevating the voices of all communities reflects and strengthens the mission of the department: to improve population health and to prepare the next generation of public health leaders.
"We support an educational culture where everyone’s authentic identities and perspectives are not just welcomed, but also seen as true assets. Our personal identities and perspectives are often our most valuable skill sets, as they guide our methods for achieving the types of public health solutions we want to see in our own lives. We embrace collectively what we each bring as tools to use and learn from one another on our journey to public health solutions.”
A Message from the Chair
Welcome to the Department of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences (BSHES).
The mission of our department is to better the health of all people by advancing knowledge and training tomorrow’s leaders in how to change behavior and social conditions that influence health. Our vision is to be a leader in addressing the changing landscape of complex health problems affecting our diverse local, national, and global communities.
Members of the BSHES community conduct transdisciplinary research spanning major health domains, specific populations, and in diverse geographic and ecological settings. Our highly productive and collaborative faculty members are funded by federal government organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Resources and Services Administration, as well as private foundations such as the American Cancer Society and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
BSHES is a department that works actively to advance health equity through rigorous science, teaching, and community engagement. Our collective work is inspired by fundamental beliefs in the right to health for all populations and the need to address historic patterns of structural inequality that determine health. BSHES promotes a culture of inclusion that celebrates the range of viewpoints that students bring to our classrooms and research groups.
Please take time to learn more about our faculty members, students, academic programs, and research through these pages. If you would like to learn more about our department, do not hesitate to contact us at bshes@emory.edu.
Ready to Move Forward?
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