Staff: Heather N. Platter, PhD, MS

Heather N. Platter, PhD, MS
Cancer Prevention Fellow
- Office of the Associate Director (OAD)
- Tobacco Control Research Branch (TCRB)
- Behavioral Research Program (BRP)
Heather Platter, Ph.D., M.S., is a Cancer Prevention Fellow in the Office of the Associate Director with a secondary appointment in the Tobacco Control Research Branch of the Behavioral Research Program.
Dr. Platter's research interests fall within the areas of health literacy and health communication, with a focus on risk perception and risk communication, health misinformation, and decision-making. Topics of interest include tobacco control and prevention, smoking cessation, lung cancer screening, and genetic literacy.
Dr. Platter is interested in examining cancer risk perceptions and tobacco product harm judgments in different populations, such as cancer survivors, dual- and poly-tobacco users, and light or non-daily smokers. She also wants to pursue research examining smoker identity, including how identity relates to defensive processing of risk information and how affective factors and social processes like self-affirmation influence decision-making. Furthermore, she hopes to examine patient-provider communication in healthcare systems, such as communicating genetic risk information and informed/shared decision-making about lung cancer screening.
Dr. Platter received her Ph.D. in Behavioral and Community Health from the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland, College Park. While at Maryland, Dr. Platter was awarded the Rudd Health Literacy Fellowship from the Horowitz Center for Health Literacy and she received the Robin Sawyer Health Communication and Teaching Award. For her dissertation, she conducted a grounded theory study exploring health literacy and informed decision-making about lung cancer screening among older adult long-term smokers. Dr. Platter received her Bachelor and Master of Science, with a focus in Social and Behavioral Public Health, from the University of Florida. Her master's thesis examined whether non-enforced smoke-free signage affected smoking behaviors and reduced environmental tobacco smoke exposure in public parks within a preemption state.
"Where are they now?": Following up with past BRP fellows
Updated January 2025
Current Title
Assistant Professor
University of Virginia (UVA), School of Medicine, Public Health Sciences
How has your BRP fellowship influenced your career?
The Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program in BRP has had a very large influence on my career. When I started my post-doc fellowship, my research interests and experiences were on health literacy / health communication, with a focus tobacco control/prevention and lung cancer screening. I have been able to expand my research interests to include risk communication, social psychology, and health decision-making (such as how affective factors and risk perception influence decision-making). My research in cancer prevention no longer focuses on a single disease (lung cancer), or solely in tobacco… I have had the opportunity to create numerous interdisciplinary research teams with a focus across the cancer control continuum. For example, working on how to best communicate dietary intake, examining health insurance literacy among cancer survivors, and research in alcohol communication/messaging. The opportunity to work within BRP has allowed me to grow my research expertise and apply that to numerous health behaviors. Additionally, I have had the opportunity to obtain expansive training in mixed-methods research and now consider this an area of my expertise.
Describe a favorite memory or two from your fellowship experience.
Many of my favorite memories center around receiving CRAFT awards for my research. Working with Rick Moser, Silvia Salazar, and my CRAFT research teams was such an amazing learning experience. Furthermore, it is exciting to now play a mentorship support role on a CRAFT award since I am a senior fellow. I love working in inter-disciplinary teams and presenting our research at NCI DCCPS Fellows Symposium and the end-of-year CRAFT presentations was exciting.
Describe your current position, your current organization, and what you do.
I am a tenure-track assistant professor in the School of Medicine, Public Health Sciences at the University of Virginia. My research focuses on health literacy and risk/health communication, with a focus on risk perception, health misinformation, and health decision-making using a health equity lens. I develop clear health and risk communication messaging that aids health decision-making among populations experiencing health disparities. My research examines how low health literacy and numeracy contribute to disparities in healthcare access and outcomes, ways to mitigate defensive processing of health communications due to misinformation and risk perception biases, and the influence of health beliefs, affective factors, and social processes (such as self-affirmation) on responses to risk communications across different behavioral domains.
Awards, Honors, and Recognitions
- National Cancer Institute Director’s Award for Outstanding Mentor, January 2023
Awarded in recognition of service as a peer mentor in the Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program Peer Mentoring Program, easing isolation and building professional and social support for new post-doctoral fellows - National Cancer Institute Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program Merit Award, June 2022
Awarded in recognition of uniquely rising to the highest level of science, leadership, and service while completing the Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program - National Cancer Institute Director’s Award for Emerging Leader, August 2021
Awarded in recognition of leadership in the Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program Fellows Advisory Board, spearheading innovative opportunities for fellows to develop skills and community during the COVID-19 pandemic - AACR Scholar-in-Training Award, August 2021
Awarded in recognition of meritorious scholarship and abstract submission as well as provided funding to attend the 14th American Association for Cancer Research Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved
Current and/or past BRP mentors include William Klein.
Selected Publications and Presentations
- Platter H, Kaplow K, Baur C. Community Health Literacy Assessment: A Systematic Framework to Assess Gaps, Assets, and Opportunities for Health Literacy Improvement. Health Lit Res Pract 2019 Oct 10; 3(4):e216-e226.
- Platter HN, Pokorny SB. Smoke-free signage in public parks: impacts on smoking behaviour. Tob Control 2018 Jul; 27(4):470-473.
- Platter H Re: "Cigarette Smoking and Breast Cancer Risk in Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White Women: The Breast Cancer Health Disparities Study" by Conner et al. (J Womens Health (Larchmt) 2016;25:299-310). J Womens Health (Larchmt) 2017 Jan; 26(1):91.
To request edits to this profile, please contact us at ncidccpsbrpadvances@mail.nih.gov.