Priya Vanchy

Priya Vanchy is a graduate student in the Department of Applied Behavioral Science at KU. She has a Masters of Science in Electronic Media from Anna University in India. Priya is part of the Center for Community Health and Development and Prevention (CYDPT) within the Work Group for Community Health and Development. As such, she provides technical and evaluation assistance to coalitions supporting substance abuse prevention and behavioral health through the Kansas Department on Aging and Disability Services. She also works on the Preferred Leisure Alternatives for Youth (PLAY) program, an after-school initiative promoting physical activity among vulnerable youth. The PLAY study examines if increased opportunities to engage in preferred types of constructive leisure time activities will act as a deterrent to engage in risk behaviors in adolescence.

Priya’s research interests include examining the environmental conditions that promote or obstruct healthy behavior among adolescents and the degree and manner in which these interrelated conditions affect the youth population. She works on examining the prevention of addictive behaviors and is also interested in extending applied behavioral science approaches to other issues such as gun violence, gender-violence and access to education, that may particularly affect vulnerable populations.