Director Viswanath Elected to National Academy of Medicine
Dr. K. “Vish” Viswanath, Director of the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), one of the highest honors in health and medicine.
Dr. Viswanath serves as Lee Kum Kee Professor of Health Communication, as well as holding several other leadership roles, at both the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He is among 100 new members elected to the Academy in 2026. Membership recognizes outstanding contributions to medical science, health care, and public health.
In announcing his election, NAM cited Dr. Viswanath’s work in translational communication science and health inequities, noting its influence on public health scholarship and practice and its application by organizations locally, nationally, and internationally.
It is deeply gratifying to be recognized by peers who are themselves eminent scientists and leaders. For many years, we have worked to understand and address communication inequalities in health. I see this election as an affirmation of that collective effort and of the idea at its heart: that addressing communication inequalities is essential to advancing health equity and improving public health.
Dr. K. “Vish” Viswanath
At the heart of Dr. Viswanath’s research is a fundamental question: How can health information and scientific discoveries reach the people and communities who need them most? He studies how social and structural conditions shape access to health information and how communication can help address disparities, strengthen community engagement, and improve population health.
His work also brings research into practice. Through partnerships with community organizations and direct engagement with communities, Dr. Viswanath seeks to make scientific advances more useful and accessible to the people they are meant to serve.
As Director of the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness, he brings this commitment to equity and community well-being to the Center’s mission of advancing interdisciplinary research on positive health and happiness and using that knowledge to inform practice and policy.
Health, happiness and well-being are fundamentally social, shaped by the conditions in which we live and our connections to one another. Everyone should have the opportunity to thrive, regardless of background or social status. That is the vision of collective well-being at the heart of our Center’s mission.
Research on well-being and positive health helps us understand not only what harms health, but also what enables people and communities to flourish. Communication is essential to that effort: it weaves the social fabric that connects us. While digital platforms can undermine well-being, our research shows they can also be powerful tools for promoting it. The opportunity ahead is to understand how to harness that potential to strengthen social connections and create healthier, more equitable and inclusive communities.
Dr. K. “Vish” Viswanath
Dr. Viswanath’s election recognizes a career dedicated to making health knowledge more accessible and improving the lives of communities around the world.
