The overriding aim of the Center for Biobehavioral Research is to describe, explain and predict the relationship among biological, psychological, and social factors, human behaviors and health status as the foundation for generating new interventions. The Center is organized into 6 cores which include: administrative core resources, statistical resources, laboratory facilities/animal models, methods, subject recruitment and retention, and education. Areas of research emphasis are: sleep, nutrition/metabolism, environmental science, neuroscience, and genetics/human development. A major emphasis of the Center is mentoring students and faculty wishing to add Biobehavioral research methods to their current program of research.

Nursing scholarship is strongly influenced and modified by the ever-increasing body of knowledge drawn from basic science research in the fields of physiology, nutrition, metabolism, neuroscience, biochemistry, genetics and many other areas. The faculty in the School of Nursing conducts studies that encompass the interactions among biological, behavioral, and social factors and their effect on health outcomes. As science has evolved, it is increasingly evident that the health problems of society are the result of unique interactions of individuals, their heredity and their environment.

As part of the Center for Biobehavioral Research, the Biobehavioral Research Laboratory hosts state-of-the art equipment that enables faculty members and doctoral students to conduct interdisciplinary research.

The Biobehavioral Research Lab consists of the following three cores: