Stephen J Lepore

Professor
Chair
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Phone
215-204-9422
Office
Ritter Annex 965

Biography

Dr. Stephen Lepore is professor of public health and founding director of the Social and Behavioral Health Interventions Laboratory. He holds degrees from the University of California-Irvine, Harvard University and Clark University. His work focuses on cancer prevention, control and survivorship, with an emphasis on developing theoretically informed social and behavioral interventions to improve the quality of life in people who have had cancer and to promote healthy lifestyle choices and behaviors that might lead to the prevention or early detection and treatment of cancer. Dr. Lepore also serves as a professor of clinical sciences at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine.

Of particular interest to Dr. Lepore is the impact of cancer on interpersonal relationships and how relationship dynamics with family, friends, health care providers and other cancer survivors can influence psychosocial adjustment to cancer. His work in this area has culminated in the Social Cognitive Processing model of adjustment to cancer, which has been used as the basis for designing individual, group and internet-based interventions to improve quality of life in cancer survivors. In addition, Dr. Lepore is highly committed to reducing the burden of cancer in high-risk populations, such as low-income and African American communities where exposures to cancer risk factors are high and cancer outcomes are poor. Efforts to reduce cancer disparities have included an intervention to promote informed decision making about prostate cancer testing among African American men and an intervention to promote smoking cessation and reduce harms of secondhand smoke exposure in low-income African American families. New research directions are focusing on using technology, such as the internet, mobile phones and electronic medical records, to increase the reach and efficacy of social and behavioral interventions. For example, ongoing trials investigate the psychological and social benefits of online support groups for cancer survivors and the use of mHealth (text messaging, mobile apps) to promote health behavior change.

Dr. Lepore has received numerous awards in recognition of his research accomplishments, including an award for Outstanding Contributions to Health Psychology from Division 38 of the American Psychological Association, the Young Investigator Award for Outstanding Contributions to Behavioral Medicine from the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Distinguished Lecturer at Old Dominion University, Distinguished Visiting Faculty Award at University of Kentucky, and a Fulbright Award. He is a Fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine and the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Researchers, and a Charter Member of the National Institutes of Health Behavioral Medicine Interventions study section. His work regularly appears in leading scientific journals in health, psychology and medicine, and has been continuously supported for over 20 years by grants from federal agencies and private foundations.

Education

  • PhD, Social Ecology (Social/Health Psychology), University of California, Irvine
  • EdM, Counseling & Consulting Psychology, Harvard University
  • BA, Psychology, Clark University

Curriculum Vitae 

Google Scholar: Stephen Lepore's Google Scholar profile

Courses Taught

Number

Name

Level

SBS 8001

Research Methods in Public Health

Graduate

Selected Publications