Professor Kathryn Greene and Associate Professor Itzhak Yanovitzky of the Department of Communication now hold joint appointments with the Rutgers School of Public Health, Department of Health Education and Behavioral Science. Professor Greene is also an Associate Member, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ).

Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication Craig Scott, said about the joint appointments, “The appointment of Drs. Greene and Yanovitzky not only reflects on the caliber and importance of the work they do in the health arena, but it raises the profile of our department and our discipline as a home for top for scholars working in this space.”

Greene’s research and teaching interests are in the area of health communication. Her research program explores decision-making related to various health risks, or the central role of communication in preventing risk and maintaining health and wellness. The two main thrusts of her research are: 1) increasing involvement in message processing and exploring message features in prevention, especially with adolescent risk taking; and 2) how people choose to share or conceal health diagnoses or other information as they manage illness, both with close others such as spouses and with medical providers.

Yanovitzky is an expert in the areas of strategic health communication (persuasion, social marketing, and campaigns), knowledge transfer, and program evaluation. His current research projects explore strategies for connecting health policymakers with research evidence (e.g., knowledge brokering) and mechanisms for building the capacity of local, regional, and national stakeholders (providers, patients, community organizations, etc.) to respond effectively to the ongoing opioid and heroin addiction crisis.