Home institution: Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, USA
Mentor and host institution: Anna Hood, Manchester Centre for Health Psychology, University of Manchester, UK

Project Outline: Frances Cooke is a second year PhD student in Clinical Psychology studying under the mentorship of Dr. Christina Sharkey. Her research and clinical interests pertain to pediatric psychology, specifically supporting youth with chronic medical conditions and their families, developing equitable interventions, and focusing on emerging adults’ transition from pediatric to adult medical care. The generous HBIC Award will support a collaboration with Dr. Anna Hood, Assistant Professor in the Division of Psychology and Mental Health and the Policy Director of the Manchester Centre for Health Psychology at The University of Manchester. The project entails completion of a scoping review to identify research exploring cultural responsivity within the healthcare transition process for youth with chronic medical conditions.

Home institution: University of Ghana Medical School, Ghana
Mentor and host institution: Angela Rodrigues, Northumbria University

Project Outline: Dr. Henrietta Ampofo is a medical doctor (graduate of the University of Ghana Medical School), and a member of the International Behaviour Trials Network (IBTN) as well as the College of Health Sciences Medical Research Group under the mentorship of Prof. Charles Mate-Korle, multiple-award winning professor and researcher at the University of Ghana. As a United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Youth Leaders (YoLe) Fellow, Dr. Henrietta Ampofo worked with the Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) unit at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) contributing to research on behavioural drivers influencing vaccine uptake. The insights gained from this experience inspired her to become a member of the United Nations Behavioural Science Network (BeSci). Her research project for this award will involve conducting a systematic review on behavioural drivers for Human Papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) vaccine uptake in Africa using the behavioural change wheel (COM-B (Capacity, Opportunity, Motivation) model) to extract the behavioural drivers and barriers to vaccine uptake from existing literature. With the support of the 2025 Health and Behavior International Collaborative (HBIC) award, co-sponsored by International Behavioural Trials Network (IBTN) and the Canadian Behavioural Interventions and Trials Network (CBITN), Dr. Ampofo will collaborate with her international mentor, Prof. Angela Rodrigues, a senior researcher at Northumbria University and recipient of the New Investigator Award from IBTN, to enhance the understanding of these drivers, with the goal of improving HPV vaccine uptake across the African continent. This will enable sharing of expertise and also foster future international research collaborations.

Home institution: Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
Mentor and host institution: Michele Okun, University of Colorado, USA

Project: Amelia Winter is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with a background in psychology and public health. Her research predominantly evaluates health services and implementation of interventions to improve physical and mental health through a trauma-informed lens. Through the HBIC Award, Amelia will travel to the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs to be mentored by Dr. Michele Okun in the Sleep and Biobehavioral Research Lab. Dr. Okun is a leading expert on the relationship between sleep and perinatal mental health, and their collaboration explores the intersections between traumatic experiences, sleep quality, and mental health outcomes for men in the perinatal period. Through exploring these factors, men’s health and wellbeing can be better supported as their families grow.

Home institution: Kansas State University, USA
Mentor and host institution: Ryan Rhodes, University of Victoria (Canada)

Project Outline: Carah Porter is a doctoral student in Kinesiology at Kansas State University whose research focuses on post-intentional processes, such as behavioral regulation, habit, and identity, that support sustained physical activity among college students. She applies the Multi-Process Action Control (M-PAC) framework to understand and promote long-term behavior change. The HBIC award will support her visit to the University of Victoria to collaborate with Dr. Ryan Rhodes, a leading behavioral medicine researcher and founder of M-PAC, to develop an identity-based intervention for first-year university students to promote physical activity. During this visit, she will also receive training in digital health intervention delivery through the Pathverse platform under the guidance of co-founder Dr. Sam Liu.