I've always been fascinated by what moves people.
My career started with storytelling. Long before I studied health communication, I was interested in what makes someone pay attention, what makes a message resonate, and what can change the way someone knows, feels, or acts.
That same curiosity has shaped more than 20 years of work in health content and communications.
I began my career in journalism and health content, eventually moving into academic medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and then into leadership roles at Understood.org and Noom.
Wanting to better understand the science behind the work led me to earn an MS in Health Communication from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where I focused on behavioral science, health literacy, health equity, and the role communication plays in health decisions and outcomes.
Across all of that work, I’m still asking a version of the same question that first drew me to storytelling:
What will reach someone, move them, and ultimately change what they know, how they feel, or what they do?
Weaving communication into all things health.
Today, I bring research and practice together as a health communication strategist, educator, thought leader, and consultant. I teach health communication at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, serving as an adjunct lecturer with graduate students in Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and undergraduate students in City University of New York Health Policy and Administration program.
I also advise and consult with healthcare organizations, health tech companies, researchers, and nonprofits to put evidence-based communication and behavioral science into practice.
I’m particularly interested in expanding the role health communication plays in the for-profit space, namely healthcare and health technology—from demonstrating its connection to organizational performance to exploring how personalization and AI can make communication more effective without sacrificing trust, empathy, and human connection.
Ways we might work together:
- Health communication strategy, cohesion, and audits
- Patient communication journey mapping
- Identification of communication failure points
- Health literacy and plain-language assessment
- Clinician and staff communication training
- Participant communication in grant-funded research initiatives
- Teach-back strategies
- Patient education and communication across the care experience
- Behavior change and self-efficacy strategies
- Measurement and evaluation
The goal is bigger than clearer communication. It’s a cohesive health communication strategy that gives people the information, understanding, support, and motivation they need to move toward better outcomes, while also helping organizations improve the outcomes and performance they already measure.
A little more on me...
I hold an MS in Health Communication from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a BFA in Dramatic Arts from New York University.
So yes, I’m still a theater kid at heart. It turns out that understanding your audience is just as important in health communication as it is in storytelling.
I also live in New York City and am an almost-empty-nester. Raising a teen is hard!