IHC - Interdisciplinary Health Communication

Noel Brewer Assistant Professor Department of Health Behavior and Health Education School of Public Health, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., Rutgers University
Noel Brewer is a research scientist working on problems in medical decision making. For example, what beliefs motivate health behaviors such as vaccination and medical testing? Several key findings from his research: Risk perceptions play an important role in adults' health behaviors such as getting the flu shot. False-positive mammograms harm women's well being, but they increase subsequent breast health behaviors. His work has appeared in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Cognition and Health Psychology. [Back to top]
Jane D. Brown James L. Knight Professor School of Journalism and Mass Communication, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., University of Wisconsin
Jane Brown is an expert on how the media are used by and influence adolescents' health and has studied the influence of the media on adolescents' tobacco and alcohol use, aggressive and sexual behavior. She is co-editor or co-author of four books, including Sexual Teens, Sexual Media. Her research has been published in adolescent as well as communication journals, including the Journal of Adolescent Health, Pediatrics, Journal of Communication, and Mass Communication and Society. [Back to top]
Marci Campbell Associate Professor Department of Nutrition School of Public Health, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Dr. Campbell's research focuses on nutrition behavior change for health promotion and disease prevention. She is currently investigating health communication strategies aimed at reducing risk factors for cancer and chronic diseases in minority and underserved communities: 1) effectiveness of computer- generated, individually tailored nutrition education programs on dietary assessment and psychosocial theories of behavior change in promoting dietary changes for disease prevention, 2) use of a lay-health-adviser approach to increase social support for behavior changes; 3) impact of organization and environmental approaches to encouraging healthy behaviors. Dr. Campbell is a member of the American Dietetic Association, the American Public Health Association, and is program leader for prevention and control at the Lineberger Cancer Center. [Back to top]
Joan Cates Lecturer School of Journalism and Mass Communication, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., MPH, UNC-Chapel Hill
Joan Cates’ research examines the role of the media in shaping public awareness, policies and practices related to sexual health. As principal investigator of the American Youth and Sexually Transmitted Diseases Project, funded by the William T. Grant Foundation (2002-2006), she was responsible for the publication of the first national summary of the scope and impact of STDs in youth in a 2004 report, Our Voices, Our Lives, Our Futures: Youth and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Winner of a 2005 IMPACT award for graduate research at UNC-Chapel Hill, Dr. Cates’ publications include articles in American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Women's Health Issues, Sex Education and the Journal of Rural Health (in press). [Back to top]
Darren A. DeWalt Assistant Professor School of Medicine, UNC-Chapel Hill MD, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine MPH, UNC-Chapel Hill
Dr. DeWalt is a general internist and health services researcher. Dr. DeWalt actively researches interventions to improve care for people with low literacy and has planned and completed clinical trials of interventions for diabetes and heart failure. Dr. DeWalt took a leading role in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality evidence report on Literacy and Health Outcomes which was performed by the RTI-UNC Evidence-based Practice Center. He is currently developing a diabetes self-management toolkit for patients with low literacy and performing a multi-site clinical trial of a self-management program for heart failure. He is also principal investigator for the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System. [Back to top]
Elizabeth Dougall Assistant Professor School of Journalism and Mass Communication, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., Queensland University of Technology
Elizabeth Dougall has attracted national and international recognition for her research applying the analysis of media coverage to track organization-activist relationships and the public opinion environment surrounding industry issues, including the banking and global pharmaceutical industries. Dougall's extensive industry experience includes media advocacy, issues management and crisis communication for organizations in Australia, the United Kingdom, Europe and Canada. In May 2005, Dougall's research was featured in the national trade PR Week, as part of the "new science" of public relations. She teaches graduate and undergraduate classes in media advocacy and related topics. [Back to top]
Karen M. Gil Professor Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, UNC-Chapel Hill Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., West Virginia University, 1985
Karen Gil came to Carolina in 1995 after serving on the faculty at Duke University from 1985-1995. She has authored numerous publications on health psychology, acute and chronic pain, and stress and coping with medical illness. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Society of Behavioral Medicine. In 1996, she was awarded the Outstanding Contributions to Health Psychology award by the Division of Health Psychology of the American Psychological Association. In 2003, she was awarded the Logan Wright Distinguished Researcher award by the Society of Pediatric Psychology [Back to top]
Carol Golin Research Assistant Professor Department of Health Behavior and Health Education School of Public Health, UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine, UNC-Chapel Hill MD, UNC-Chapel Hill
Carol Golin is engaged in research on the development and assessment of behavioral interventions to enhance compliance and health care for persons living with HIV/AIDS and access to care for incarcerated persons. In addition, she studies the influence of patient-provider communication on health outcomes and is particularly interested in the effects of enhanced patient participation in medical decision-making. She is also interested in behavioral interventions to prevent the secondary spread of HIV. [Back to top]
Claudia Gollop Associate Professor School of Information and Library Science, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh
Claudia Gollop teaches in the areas of information resources and services, health sciences information, public libraries and library/information services to specific populations. She earned a Ph.D. in Library and Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh and an M.L.S. degree from Columbia University. She spent well over a decade as a library/information professional in public, special, and academic libraries. Her current research interests revolve around issues of consumer health information (CHI) acquisition and dissemination and specific populations, older adults in particular. [Back to top]
Melanie C. Green Assistant Professor Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., Ohio State University
Melanie Green is a social psychologist who studies the role of narratives in persuasion, including health persuasion and cancer communication. She is co-editor of two books: Narrative Impact: Social and Cognitive Foundations, and Persuasion: Psychological Insights and Perspectives (Second Edition). Her research has been published in journals such as the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and Journal of Communication. [Back to top]
Stephanie W. Haas Professor School of Information and Library Science, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh
Stephanie Haas studies the sublanguages and terminology used within and between communities of experts, as well as between experts and non-experts. Research on the language used in emergency department patient records has appeared in Academic Emergency Medicine and the Journal of Biomedical Informatics. Other studies of barriers to finding information posed by terminology have appeared in the Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology and Computer. [Back to top]
Heidi Hennink-Kaminski Assistant Professor School of Journalism and Mass Communication, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., University of Georgia
Heidi Hennink-Kaminski teaches advertising courses in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Her research focuses on social marketing, health communication and industry issues associated with transnational advertising. Hennink-Kaminski has 15 years of professional experience in marketing communications. Most recently she served as public relations manager and marketing communication manager for Steelcase, the world's largest manufacturer of office furniture and work environments. Before that, she worked as vice president of marketing for Horizon Group, the nation's largest developer of outlet centers. Hennink-Kaminski also worked in advertising for the J.W. Messner Agency, The May Co. and R.H. Macy Co. She has been published in Journalism and Mass Communication Educator and the Proceedings of the American Academy of Advertising and authored a book chapter on transnational advertising. [Back to top]
R. Michael Hoefges Assistant Professor School of Journalism and Mass Communication, UNC-Chapel Hill J.D., University of Florida Ph.D., University of Florida
Michael Hoefges teaches and researches in the area of media law and policy specializing in the regulation of advertising and marketing communications related to a variety of products and services including alcohol, tobacco, gambling, professional medical services, and prescription drugs. His articles have appeared in the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal, Communication Law & Policy, Hastings Communication & Entertainment Law Journal, Journal of Marketing & Public Policy, Notre Dame Journal of Legislation and William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal. Twice, West Publishing has selected one of his articles for republication in the annual First Amendment Law Handbook as among the most significant First Amendment publications of the year. Hoefges is a former practicing attorney and currently serves on the National Advertising Review Board. He is the founding co-coordinator of a dual degree program between the UNC Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication, and Law, and works with the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy. [Back to top]
Kristin Ito Medical Director, Wake Teen Medical Services, Raleigh Adjunct Clinical Professor Department of Pediatrics, UNC-Chapel Hill M.D., Harvard Medical School M.P.H., UNC-Chapel Hilla
Kristin Ito is a general internist and pediatrician specializing in adolescent health care and the medical director of Wake Teen, a non-profit adolescent clinic located in Raleigh. Her research interests include the use of interactive technology and multimedia in health behavior interventions and the effect of mass media on health. She has developed and conducted research on the effectiveness of an interactive CD-ROM intervention aimed at the prevention of sexually transmitted infections in female adolescents. [Back to top]
Christine Jackson Senior Research Scientist RTI International Ph.D., University of California, Irvine
Christine Jackson's primary research interest is child socialization processes as they relate to the development of risk and protective attributes during childhood and into adolescence. Variables of interest include parenting practices and media use practices as they affect early onset of alcohol and tobacco use, sexual risk outcomes, and cardiovascular risk outcomes, including obesity and physical activity. Dr. Jackson also has a specific interest in developing and testing an integrated model of persuasive message design for public health intervention. [Back to top]
Sriram "Sri" Kalyanaraman Associate Professor and Director Media Effects Laboratory School of Journalism and Mass Communication, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., Penn State University
Sri Kalyanaraman's primary research pertains to examining the social and psychological effects of new media and communication technologies. His secondary interests include information processing of persuasive health messages, and marketing aspects of sex and violence in media. His research has been published in leading mass communication journals including Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Journal of Advertising, and Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. [Back to top]
Tom Linden, MD Glaxo Wellcome Distinguished Professor of Medical Journalism School of Journalism and Mass Communication, UNC-Chapel Hill MD, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
As director of the medical journalism program at UNC-CH, Dr. Linden teaches courses in medical journalism for both undergraduate and graduate students and administers one of the nation's first master's programs in medical journalism. Dr. Linden also has a special interest in medical cyberspace and is co-author of Dr. Tom Linden's Guide to Online Medicine, one of the first consumer guides for medical resources on the Internet. He also is medical anchor for Journal Watch Audio, distributed bimonthly by the Audio Digest Foundation for the Massachusetts Medical Society. Dr. Linden has experience in professional journalism as a staff writer, medical reporter, news anchor, health and science correspondent, talk show host, and medical editor. From 1991 to 1993 he was co-anchor of Physicians' Journal Update, the flagship news program for the Lifetime Medical Television Network. [Back to top]
Laura Linnan Associate Professor Department of Health Behavior and Health Education School of Public Health, UNC-Chapel Hill ScD, Harvard University
Laura Linnan, ScD, CHES, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, UNC-Chapel Hill School of Public Health, with a joint appointment in the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Linnan completed doctoral studies at Harvard University, where her dissertation focused on gaps in knowledge, theory and practice related to applied worksite health promotion research. She is particularly interested in the relationship between place and health. She received a MS in Public Health Education from The University of Toledo, and a BS in Health Education and Sports Medicine from Indiana State University. [Back to top]
Issac Lipkus Associate Professor Duke University Medical Center Ph.D., UNC-Chapel Hill, 1991
Dr. Lipkus, a social psychologist, is an Associate Professor at Duke University Medical Center and heads the Duke Risk Communication Laboratory. His research explores how persuasive communications, especially those that affect perceptions of health threat, motivate behavior change in such areas as cancer screening and smoking cessation. His research also includes medical decision-making. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Health Communication, Health Psychology and Psychology and Health. [Back to top]
Gary Marchionini Professor School of Information and Library Science, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., Wayne State University
Gary Marchionini conducts research in human-information interaction, interface design and testing, and digital libraries. He heads the Interaction Design Laboratory at SILS and is author of a book titled Information Seeking in Electronic Environments. His Ph.D. is from Wayne State University in mathematics education with an emphasis on educational computing. [Back to top]
Joanne Gard Marshall Alumni Distinguished Professor School of Information and Library Science, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., University of Toronto
Joanne Marshall served as Dean of the School of Information and Library Science from 1999 to 2004. Prior to 1999, Joanne was a faculty member at the University of Toronto, where she taught courses in health sciences information resources, management of corporate and other specialized information centers, research methods and online information retrieval. Before assuming her faculty appointment at the University of Toronto, Joanne worked for 15 years as a librarian in various academic and health sciences libraries. She has received a number of awards including the Medical Library Association (MLA) doctoral fellowship, the MLA Eliot Prize for the most significant research in medical librarianship for 1982 and 1992, and the Award of Outstanding Achievement from the Canadian Health Libraries Association in 1992. From the Special Libraries Association she received the H.W. Wilson Award in 1997, the John Cotton Dana Award in 1998 and the Factiva Leadership Award in 2004. During 2004-2005 she served as President of the Medical Library Association. She is a fellow of both the Medical Library Association and the Special Libraries Association. [Back to top]
Deborah Mayer Assistant Professor School of Nursing, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., University of Utah MSN, Yale University BSN, Excelsior College
Dr. Mayer is an advanced practice oncology nurse who has consulted with organizations on issues to improve cancer care with over 30 years of cancer nursing practice, education, research, and management experience. Dr. Mayer earned a Ph.D. from the University of Utah, her MSN from Yale University, her BSN from Excelsior College, her Nurse Practitioner Certificate from the University of Maryland, and her diploma from Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing. She is past president of the Oncology Nursing Society, was a member of the National Cancer Institutes National Cancer Advisory Board (a Presidential appointment) and Board of Scientific Advisors. Mayer was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. Prior to joining UNC, Mayer was co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Cancer Source (www.cancersource.com) and a research scientist at the Tufts-New England Medical Center Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies. She was recently appointed Editor for the Oncology Nursing Society's Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing. Mayer has published over 70 articles, book chapters and lectures internationally on oncology and oncology nursing issues. [Back to top]
Cathy L. Melvin Senior Research Fellow and Director of Child Health Services Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research Research Associate Professor Department of Maternal and Child Health School of Public Health, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., UNC-Chapel Hill MPH, UNC-Chapel Hill
Dr. Cathy Melvin serves as Principal Investigator and director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded Smoke-Free Families (SFF) National Dissemination Office (NDO) and as faculty director of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Dissemination Core. Dr. Melvinâ€™s research interests include dissemination and dissemination research, translation of research into practice, health systems change, the application of quality improvement approaches to systems change, particularly in the adoption and use of tobacco treatment guidelines and tobacco control and prevention, especially for pregnant and parenting smokers. [Back to top]
Michael P. Pignone Associate Professor Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine, UNC-Chapel Hill Director, UNC Center for Excellence in Chronic Illness Care Director, Medical Practice and Prevention Research, Sheps Center for Health Services Research MD, University of California-San Francisco MPH, UNC-Chapel Hill
Dr. Pignone's research is focused on chronic disease prevention and treatment, as well on physician-patient communication and decision making in primary care settings. His main areas of interest include heart disease prevention, colorectal cancer screening, and disease management for common chronic illnesses such as diabetes, depression, heart failure, and chronic pain. He has conducted research examining the role of literacy in physician-patient communication and its effect on health outcomes, including racial/ethnic disparities, in patients with chronic illnesses. He has developed and tested interventions to mitigate literacy-related disparities and to improve the use of appropriate preventive services. His current research focuses on the development, testing, and dissemination of patient-directed decision aids to improve clinical decision making for a range of health issues, including colon cancer screening and heart disease prevention. [Back to top]
Kurt Ribisl Associate Professor Department of Health Behavior and Health Education School of Public Health, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., Michigan State University
Kurt Ribisl's primary research interests are in the areas of tobacco control policy and information technology (e.g., the Internet, Geographic Information Systems [GIS]). Specifically, he has studied tobacco industry marketing strategies in retail outlets, interventions to reduce youth access to tobacco, and portrayals of smoking on the World Wide Web. He has also examined whether Internet cigarette vendors are complying with tax reporting laws and whether they are taking adequate precautions to prevent illegal tobacco sales to minors. He teaches a course at UNC entitled eHealth. Dr. Ribisl has a joint appointment at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. [Back to top]
LaHoma Smith Romocki Assistant Professor Department of Public Health Education – North Carolina Central University Ph.D., UNC-Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication MPH, UNC-Chapel Hill School of Public Health, Health Education
Dr. Romocki is Interim Chair of the department at NCCU, with an adjunct appointment at the UNC School of Public Health. Dr. Romocki's background is developing and implementing global, national, and statewide health communication and training programs. Her research interests are e-health, health literacy and health disparities and she served on the N.C. Institute of Medicine and Public Health's Task Force on Health Literacy. Dr. Romocki was just awarded a grant from the National Library of Medicine and United Negro College Fund to study the utilization of online health and medical resources in minority communities in North Carolina. [Back to top]
Stacey L. Sheridan Assistant Professor of Medicine Division of General Medicine and Epidemiology, UNC-Chapel Hill MD, Pennsylvania State University MPH, UNC-Chapel Hill
Dr. Sheridan's research is focused on chronic disease prevention and physician - patient communication in primary care settings. Her main areas of interest include heart disease prevention and prostate cancer screening. She has conducted research examining the role of shared decision-making in screening and chemoprevention, how well physicians and patients understand various presentations of risk, and the effects of literacy on health outcomes. Dr. Sheridan is a member of the Cecil Sheps Center for Health Services Research. [Back to top]
Betsy Sleath Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy School of Pharmacy, UNC-Chapel Hill Adjunct Associate Professor of Health Policy and Administration School of Public Health, UNC-Chapel Hill Research Fellow, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
Betsy Sleath's research focuses on: (a) physician-patient communication about medications and mental health issues and (b) ethnic/racial differences in medication use. Her work in this area has been funded by NHLBI, NIA, NIMH, AHRQ, and the Bayer Institute for Health Communication. Dr. Sleath is currently co-principal investigator and site principal investigator on a 2 million dollar grant from the National Institute of Aging. The University of Wisconsin and University of North Carolina received funds to conduct a randomized trial to improve rheumatologist-patient communication about medications and quality-of-life concerns using hand-held computers. She is also principal investigator on 1.6 million grant from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute that is the examining the relationship between pediatrician, caregiver, and child communication during pediatric asthma visits and child health outcomes. Dr. Sleath serves on the editorial board of Patient Education and Counseling. She is also currently conducting research on adherence to glaucoma medications and improving pharmacy services for Latinos. [Back to top]
Dulcie Straughan Associate Professor School of Journalism and Mass Communication, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., UNC-Chapel Hill
Dulcie Straughan heads the public relations sequence in the School. A member of the faculty since 1990, Straughan won a Tanner award for excellence in undergraduate teaching in 1995 and the School's David Brinkley teaching excellence award. She has a number of years of professional experience in public relations, primarily in government public information, as well as corporate and agency experience. Her research interests include public relations history, agenda setting and agenda building. [Back to top]
Deborah Tate Assistant Professor Department of Health Behavior and Health Education Department of Nutrition School of Public Health, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Deborah Tate's research focuses on developing innovative obesity treatments using technology and informatics. Her interest involves using both human counselors to guide behavior change via e-mail/chat and "virtual" counselors with tailored feedback for adults, adolescents, and families. Her work has been published in leading journals such as JAMA, and the New England Journal of Medicine. She has received grants from the NIH, ADA, and other foundations. [Back to top]
Barbara M. Wildemuth Professor School of Information and Library Science, UNC-Chapel Hill Ph.D., Drexel University
Barbara Wildemuth's research interests focus on people's use of information and information technologies, including information and technologies related to their health. Her recent research projects have included studies of people's need for and interest in personal health records; medical students' use of a factual database in microbiology; and a computerized presentation of a health maintenance/risk assessment questionnaire that adapts to the patient's literacy level and computer skills. Her teaching responsibilities include courses in user interface design, systems analysis and design, information ethics, and various aspects of research methodology. [Back to top]