Dean Brian Primack Presenting Research on Social Media and Mental Health at HHPR on Friday

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Dean Brian Primack, speaking at TEDMED

Brian Primack, the new dean in the College of Education and Health Professions, will give a research presentation on social media and mental health from 2 to 3 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31, in Room 316 of the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Building.

Dr. Primack was previously the dean of the Honors College at the University of Pittsburgh for two years and before that, director of the Center for Research on Media, Technology and Health at the university. He developed the center to research how to help people leverage media and technology in ways that will improve their lives. He's studied both the negative and the positive effects.

At Pitt, Primack was a principal or co-principal investigator on more than $10 million in external research grants. His work in this field led to him being interviewed by a variety of media outlets — from NPR to the New York Times — about the connection between technology use and emotional health, like depression, anxiety and loneliness. He'll share much of that research in his talk tomorrow.

This presentation is part of the Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation Research Seminar Series. The seminars are free and open to the public. The series is intended to expose students and faculty to research being conducted in the department. Refreshments will be served.