Behavioral and Community Health Sciences

We Create Healthier Communities

We prepare students to apply theories, concepts, and methods of the various social and behavioral science disciplines to the development, implementation, and evaluation of programs that prevent illness and promote health.

Why Study BCHS?

Degree Programs

BCHS offers a master’s degree program which prepares students for careers in public, voluntary, and private organizations and two doctoral degree programs.

Admissions

Applications for admission to the BCHS department are processed through the Office of Student Affairs at Pitt Public Health. Learn how to apply.

Research & Practice

BCHS has an extensive array of funded research and training projects and is well known for its community-based participatory research strategies.

Highlights

BCHS Newsletter

Get the latest news and accomplishments from BCHS faculty, staff, and students.

Highlights

Our Mission

We seek to improve and promote health and equity by engaging individuals, communities, and systems through our research, teaching, and practice.

News

Group of four women standing next to each other and smiling

Pitt researchers study menstrual health interventions in Nepal

In remote regions of Nepal, some women and girls are still forced to sleep in isolated huts or avoid kitchens, water taps and temples while menstruating due to cultural stigma and religious beliefs surrounding menstrual “impurity.”

BCHS faculty members Jason Deakings, Grace Drnach-Bonaventura and Beth Hoffman.

Pitt Public Health students harness the power of history to produce podcasts

In a unique collaboration between the Heinz History Center and Pitt Public Health, students in the Introduction to Community-Based Approaches to Public Health course are bridging the gap between past and present.

Hoffman and Christensen awarded Research!America microgrant

Beth Hoffman, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of behavioral and community health sciences, and Janelle Christensen, PhD, MPH, project manager, Department of Medicine, were recently awarded a 2025-26 Public

Events

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