About Us

The department of behavioral science founded, in 1959 (the first such department in a medical school anywhere), is one of the basic science departments of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. It serves as the college's and the University's nexus point for research and training in medical behavioral science. 

Specifically:

• Founded in 1959, the Department of Behavioral Science was the first department of its kind in a U.S. medical school. It is a basic science department and serves as the College of Medicine’s central hub for research and training in medical behavioral science.
• The department has nearly 40 faculty members, from early-career faculty to nationally recognized senior investigators.
• The department leads a NIDA-funded T32 in behavioral substance use disorder research, and its faculty co-lead UK’s NCATS-funded predoctoral and postdoctoral T32 programs through the Center for Clinical and Translational Science. Faculty also mentor predoctoral students, postdoctoral fellows and early-career faculty, including K-award recipients.
• Trainees come from a wide range of fields, including anthropology, communication, experimental, educational, clinical and counseling psychology, epidemiology, geography, gerontology, kinesiology and health promotion, medicine, nursing, nutritional sciences, pharmacology, public health, social work and sociology.
• The department is housed in the Medical Behavioral Science Building and expects to move to the College of Medicine building in fall 2027.
• Faculty collaborate with the Markey Cancer Center, the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, the Center for Health Equity Transformation and the Center for Clinical and Translational Science.
• In FY2026, department faculty held nearly $12 million in external research and training funding, mainly from NIH, including NIDA, NIAAA, NCI, NIA and NCATS.