Elderly Man Recovering in a Hospital Bed

Informing People,

Building Trust

Smiling doctor consulting her patient.

Good Health starts with quality information

The rapid dissemination of information, both accurate and misleading, has profound implications for public health and policy. The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the urgency of effective science communication. While technology has empowered accurate scientific information to reach a global audience, it has also facilitated the spread of inaccuracies. To bring evidence-based perspective on misinformation vigorously and systematically, a group of leaders and innovators dedicated to excellence in health communication have joined together to launch the Council for Quality Health Communication (CQHC).


Vision

Mission

To advance and advocate for the science and practice of health communication, using evidence-based communication and media technologies to foster a culture of trust and understanding among the scientific community, policymakers, and the public.

To advocate for accurate, responsible, clear, and culturally sensitive health communication that empowers individuals and communities.


Goals


  • Streamline Communication: Simplify and standardize guidelines for effective health communication across various sectors.
  • Evidence-Based Insight: Curate and publish research that helps individuals to distinguish credible health information from misinformation.
  • Policy Advocacy: Engage with decision-makers to integrate quality health communication into public policy.
  • Tech-Savvy Dialogue: Explore and communicate the ethical implications and utility of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence in health information dissemination.



Council Members

  • Elaine Arkin, Health Communication Consultant, Convening Committee, Coalition for Trust in Science and Health
  • Jay Bernhardt, PhD, MPH, President, Emerson College, former Director, National Center for Health Marketing, CDC
  • Rhea Boyd, MD, MPH, Pediatrician, Child and Community Health Advocate and Co-developer of The Conversation: Between Us, About Us
  • Robert Boyd, MCRP, M.Div., President and CEO, School-Based Health Alliance
  • Amelia Burke-Garcia, PhD, MA, Program Area Director, Health Communication Science Practice, NORC at the University of Chicago
  • Kathy Erb, MBA, Director of Communications, Christian Connections for International Health
  • Brianna Ferrigno, MPH, President, McCann Global Health
  • Lisa Fitzpatrick MD, MPH, MPA, Founder & CEO, Grapevine Health
  • Doug Fountain, MPA, Executive Director, Christian Connections for International Health
  • Sara Gorman, PhD, MPH, CEO, Critica; Executive Director, Those Nerdy Girls
  • Larry Gostin, JD, Founding O'Neill Chair in Global Health Law; Faculty Director, O'Neill Institute; Director, WHO Collaborating Center on Global Health Law
  • Katie Gottschalk, JD, LLM, Executive Director, O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law Georgetown University Law Center
  • Celine Gounder, MD, ScM, Editor-at-Large for Public Health, KFF Health News and Medical Contributor, CBS News
  • Rebecca Soskin Hicks, MD, Formerly Medcase for Google Content Moderation, Head of COVID-19 Medical Content
  • Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, Dean, Baylor College of Medicine
  • Olusimbo "Simbo" Ige, MD, MPH, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health
  • Kathleen Hall Jamieson, PhD, Director, Annenberg Public Policy Center , University of Pennsylvania and Co-Founder of FactCheck.org
  • Ashani Johnson-Turbes, PhD, Vice President, NORC Center on Equity Research & Society for Health Communication
  • Howard Koh, MD, MPH, Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
  • Susan Krug, MS, CAE, Executive Director, American Medical Writers Association
  • Heather Lanthorn, ScD, MPH, Co-Director, The Mercury Project, Social Science Research Council
  • Heidi Larson, PhD, Co-Founder of the Global Listening Project, Professor of Anthropology, Risk & Decision Science & Founding Director of the Vaccine Confidence Project, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
  • Ricardo Baptista Leite, MD, CEO, HealthAI
  • Doug Levy, Author, The Communications Golden Hour: The Essential Guide to Public Information When Every Minute Counts
  • Lesley-Anne Long, President & CEO, GBCHealth
  • Jenny Luray, MPA, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Public Engagement, Research!America; Coalition for Trust in Science and Health
  • Suzanne Mackey, MPH, Vice President of Policy and Public Affairs, School-Based Health Alliance
  • Yvonne MacPherson, MA, Director, North America, BBC Media Action
  • Keith Martin, MD, PC, Executive Director, Consortium of Universities for Global Health
  • Kedar Mate, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Institute for Healthcare Improvement
  • Samuel Mendez, PhD Candidate, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
  • Bill Novelli, MA, Professor, Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, and co-founder Coalition on Trust in Science
  • Glen Nowak, PhD, Associate Dean and Director, Center for Health & Risk Communication, University of Georgia
  • Caroline Orr Bueno, PhD, MS, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Maryland
  • Kristen Panthagani, MD, PhD, Yale Emergency Scholar at Yale New Haven Hospital
  • Ruth Parker, MD, Professor Emerita of Medicine and Senior Fellow, Center for Ethics; Emory University
  • Rachael Piltch-Loeb, PhD, MSPH, Assistant Professor, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health; Harvard School of Public Health
  • Alexandra Quinn, MA, CEO, Health Leads and Founder, Health Equity Community Cooperative
  • Ken Rabin*, PhD, Senior Scholar, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, Special Projects Editor, Journal of Health Communication
  • Susana Ramírez, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor of Public Health Communication, University of California
  • Scott Ratzan*, MD, MPA, MA, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Health Communication, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health
  • Kyu Rhee, MD, MPP, Senior Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School; CEO, National Association of Community Health Centers
  • Dean Schillinger, MD, UCSF Bindman Professor of Primary Care and Health Policy; Director, UCSF Health Communications Research Program, UCSF Institute for Health Policy Studies
  • Tara Kirk Sell, PhD, MA; Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Senior Scholar, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
  • Hajar Shirley, MS, ABD, Research2Practice Fellow, Tyler Clementi Center, and Health Care Innovation and Technology Course Director & Adjunct Professor, Rutgers University
  • Peter Singer, OC, FCRC, Founder, Global Health Insights, Formerly World Health Organization
  • Joe Smyser, PhD, MSPH, CEO, The Public Good Projects
  • Reed Tuckson, MD, Chair & Co-founder, Black Coalition Against Covid
  • Mark Weber, MBA, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs/Human Services at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  • Rebecca Weintraub, MD, Director, Better Evidence Program, Ariadne Labs and Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School
  • Jeffrey Williams, BS, Director of Communications, School-Based Health Alliance
  • Peiling Yap, PhD, Chief Scientist, HealthAI
  • Myoungsoon You, PhD, MPH, Professor, Seoul National University
  • *Council Lead



Council Secretariat

  • Dana Chomenko, MA, Vice President, Public Health Research and Evaluation, BLH Technologies
  • Lauren Swan-Potras, MS, Managing Editor, Journal of Health Communication
  • Carmen Villamizar, MPH, MBA, Deputy Project Manager, BLH Technologies