Featured Grantees
The researchers highlighted below have been awarded at least one Behavioral Research Program-funded NIH grant. Read on to learn about their experiences as grantees.
Note: The views expressed here are those of the grantees only and do not represent any official position of the National Cancer Institute.
Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch
The "ah-ha" moment that I repeatedly experience is the importance of interpersonal relations in determining health behavior. Direct personal contacts with change agents, opinion leaders, and peers have been an essential aspect of my successful cancer prevention interventions and, more recently, relationships within organizational contexts, especially as influenced by policy, have emerged as influential for improving individuals' prevention practices. ”
I had an epiphany when I realized that everyone was using text messages for everything: Why couldn't we use them to promote healthy behaviors? ”
Ilana Graetz, PhD
- University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Healthcare matters for everybody - no one goes through life without having to deal with the healthcare system in a significant way. My family's experience in dealing with chronic health issues made me realize how deeply flawed the US healthcare system is, and I wanted my research to make a real difference to someone. ”
Early detection of cancer can save lives and improve people's quality of life. There's a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about cancer screening, and figuring out ways to help people make informed decisions about screening through cancer communication efforts is a worthwhile goal. ”
Navigating the complexity of health care and insurance is overwhelming for many cancer patients. Patients have to become their own advocates, while dealing with the health effects and stress of a cancer diagnosis. This can be particularly hard for adolescent and young adult cancer patients, who typically have little experience with insurance complexities prior to diagnosis. ”
I have always been interested in how families adapt to and manage serious illness. My goal is to help patients and family members cope better and engage in better self-care. ”
Darren M. Mays, PhD, MPH
- Georgetown University
My background as a public health scientist has inspired me to conduct research that is aimed for population-level impact by focusing on developing effective cancer prevention communication messaging. Some of the most common risk behaviors that are linked with cancer, like tobacco use, sun exposure, and indoor tanning, tend to develop at an early age but are highly preventable. I study how to promote cancer preventive behaviors by designing communication messages that resonate with young people and motivate healthy choices. ”
Xiaoli Nan, PhD
- University of Maryland, College Park
My research suggests that people are both highly resistant and susceptible to persuasion. Science-informed persuasive strategies hold the key to developing cost-effective, ethical interventions for health behavior change ”
Pallav Pokhrel, PhD, MPH
- University of Hawaii at Manoa
The advent of e-cigarettes has marked an epoch in the history of smoking-their impact on public health needs to be studied and studied clear-headedly. ”
As a teacher and a student of social sciences (and an English literature major in college), I realized how important things like communication and interpretation are in all areas of human interaction and behavior. Then, when I became a physician, I realized how powerful these tools could be for prevention and treatment of disease. ”
Megha Ramaswamy, PhD, MPH
- University of Kansas School of Medicine
Looking back, it was my early curiosity about inequality (kindled by a childhood in the Deep South and bedtime discussions with my dad about racism and politics) that ultimately motivated me as an adult to tackle the health disparities that affect marginalized women and men. ”
Andy Tan, PhD, MPH, MBA, MBBS
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
My research is influenced by the foundational work on structural influences of communication inequalities (Viswanath), tobacco-related health disparities (Fagan), and minority stress and resilience model (Meyer). ”
I believe the data, or the evidence hidden in the data, is the key to understanding public health as well as personal well-being. While new technologies have dramatically changed the world, the nature of social interaction and isolation of human beings is deemed to be a key factor when decoding such evidence. ”
