# Behavioral Economics and Intervention Science

> **NIH NIH P20** · UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT & ST AGRIC COLLEGE · 2022 · $287,167

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
CORE B: Behavioral Economics and Intervention Science (BEIS) Core
 The Vermont Center on Behavior and Health (VCBH) is dedicated to researching relationships between
personal behavior patterns and risk for chronic disease and premature death. The overarching purpose of the
Behavioral Economics and Intervention Sciences (BEIS) Core is to provide VCBH investigators with scientific
and technical expertise and research infrastructure in three key areas. First, our Core's Decision-Making
Module provides expertise in the study of behavioral choice and decision making, with an emphasis on
investigating the core cognitive processes (e.g., executive functions) and biases in decision making that may
increase vulnerability to risky health behaviors and undermine response to interventions. Toward this end, we
have established the BEIS Core Assessment Service, wherein a highly-trained, mobile assessment team
administers a comprehensive battery evaluating multiple domains of executive function and biased decision
making that includes measures of attention, working memory, inhibition, error monitoring, and sensitivity to
incentives, and temporal, probability, and social discounting of rewards. We customize assessment batteries
so that they are tailored to the specific aims and population under investigation in individual studies, while also
looking to facilitate and support thematically related research in behavioral economics across studies. Second,
the BEIS Intervention Sciences Module provides unique expertise in the design and implementation of
incentive-based and other behavioral and pharmacological interventions to promote health-related behavior
change. We assist investigators in developing and tailoring interventions to the unique characteristics of the
population and targeted risk behavior. We also have center expertise in the integration of technology with
these interventions to increase their accessibility, while also potentially lowering treatment costs. Finally, our
Core's Economic Modeling Module provides assistance with econometric analyses of interventions and health
outcomes, including help with the preparation for and conduct of cost-effectiveness, cost-utility and cost-benefit
analyses. This includes assistance in calculating the cost-offset associated with treatment outcomes (e.g.,
cost per life year gained, cost per quality-adjusted life years gained, net savings per dollar invested, and dollars
saved per hospitalization case prevented). Taken together, the BEIS Core and its dedicated service modules
will continue to provide the expertise and access to the assessments, interventions and technology, and
economic modeling central to the research proposed within the VCBH and also across the UVM campus.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10491311
- **Project number:** 5P20GM103644-10
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT & ST AGRIC COLLEGE
- **Principal Investigator:** STACEY C SIGMON
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $287,167
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2013-09-15 → 2025-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10491311

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10491311, Behavioral Economics and Intervention Science (5P20GM103644-10). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10491311. Licensed CC0.

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