Team

Amanda (she/her) is the senior director of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Health Communication.

Under Amanda’s leadership the Center launched its Public Health Creators program, which equips and inspires influential creators to spread evidence-based health information on social media. Her Harvard Chan team is also conducting interdisciplinary, creator-engaged research to study how creators are reshaping health narratives and behaviors.

Amanda is also a lecturer in the Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences, where she is preparing public health students to credibly communicate health information in an increasingly skeptical and fragmented world.

In her work at the Center Amanda leverages two decades of experience in science and health journalism, media product development, and audience engagement. Before joining Harvard’s faculty, Amanda worked as a science journalist and newsroom leader at C&EN, an award-winning nonprofit science news outlet. She currently serves on the board of Science To People, a nonprofit developing an AI research assistant for creators. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University and a Masters of Science in Chemistry from MIT.

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Elissa Scherer (she/her) is the Center for Health Communication’s Communications Coordinator. In her role as the Communications Coordinator, Elissa works to curate the Center’s digital presence, publish the Center’s newsletter, and evaluate the Center’s programs and services.

She received an MPH from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2024.

Kate Speer (she/her) is a mental health advocate and marketing executive. She was a participating creator in Harvard’s inaugural Creators Summit and is now working with the Center for Health Communication to scale the program.
She spent five years as the CEO of The Dogist, scaling its audience to 5 million and turning it into a full-fledged social impact e-commerce company, before moving into public health full-time, where she is using social media for good instead of the bottom line.
In her free time, she is finalizing her first memoir, building Mental Health is Cool, and sharing her lived experience with serious mental illness with her community of 175,000 on social media and Substack.

Larry directs the Center for Health Communication’s Health Coverage Fellowship, which helps the media do an even better job reporting on critical issues like public health and pandemics, mental health and the health impacts of climate change, and racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in health care. 

Tye is a New York Times bestselling author whose most recent book, The Jazzmen, explores how Duke Ellington, Satchmo Armstrong, and Count Basie transformed America.

From 1986 to 2001, Tye was an award-winning reporter at The Boston Globe, where his primary beat was medicine. He also served as the Globe’s environmental reporter, roving national writer, investigative reporter, and sports writer. Before that, he was the environmental reporter at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, and covered government and business at The Anniston Star in Alabama.

Tye, who graduated from Brown University, was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 1993-94. He has taught journalism at Boston University, Northeastern, and Tufts. 

Larry is now writing, for HarperCollins, The Forger of Paris: Adolfo Kaminsky and Jewish Resistance to the Holocaust.

Journalist-in-residence and host, Center for Health Communication’s health journalism bonfires

Eli Cahan, MD, MS is an award-winning investigative journalist covering the intersection of child welfare and social justice. His written work has been featured in The Washington Post, LA Times, Rolling Stone, and USA Today, among other publications. His multimedia work has appeared on TV via ABC and radio via NPR. Eli’s reporting has won awards from the National Press Club, the News Leaders Association, and elsewhere. He has received reporting fellowships from the Pulitzer Center and the National Press Foundation, among others. Eli is also a pediatrician at Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston Medical Center, and Harvard Medical School.

Yuning Liu (she/her) is a PhD student in the Population Health Sciences program at Harvard University. She specializes in understanding the interaction between digital life and wellbeing. Specifically, she studies the impact of social media on individuals’ sense of well-being and explores ways to enhance evidence-based online health communication. Yuning’s approach draws from a multidisciplinary toolkit, incorporating theories from health communication, psychology, and mental health, while applying advanced statistical and computational methodologies. Yuning also aims to leverage the richness of data from social media platforms from both developed and developing countries in her research. Yuning was originally trained in Medicine, Economics, and Global Health. Before starting her PhD at Harvard, she was a data scientist at JPMorgan Chase Institute. She worked as a research scientist intern at the social science division of Meta (Facebook) during the summers of 2022 and 2023. As a social scientist focusing on population development, Yuning aims to provide evidence on social media and mental wellbeing, which would inform further innovative actions and policymaking.

Sam’s research focuses on the intersection of health communication, media, and technology. Their dissertation examines the use of AI-driven tools in health literacy assessments, as well as ways to understand health communication beyond the transfer of information. As a student advisory board member, Sam is looking forward to contributing their viewpoint to better link students with training and resources for communication in today’s complex media environment.

Matt Motta, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Health Law, Policy, & Management at Boston University’s School of Public Health. He is working with the Center for Health Communication to define best practice for promoting effective public health communication on social media platforms, including evaluating the impact of its Creators Summit on Mental Health program. 

Matt’s research focuses on a wide range of topics related to American politics, public opinion, science communication, and both health and environmental policy. He is especially interested in identifying the social and political determinants of anti-science attitudes, and investigating their policy impact. He is also broadly interested in designing communication strategies that promote effective engagement between the public and the scientific community on politically contentious issues. Matt also conducts survey research as a Research Fellow at the Policy Lab at Brown University, and is funded by the National Science Foundation to develop new methods for effective vaccine communication.

Meng Meng Xu (she/her) is the Clinical Director of Eye Services at the South Boston Community Health Center and a faculty member at the New England College of Optometry. She has 10 years of experience delivering eye care to underserved communities and designing international educational programs in eye care.  She also mentors international students on communication skills and cultural competency and is interested cross-cultural communication and public health literacy.  She holds a Masters in Public Health in Health Management from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Ariel Zhao is a Master of Science Candidate in Global Health and Populations Department at Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health. Ariel serves as a co-investigator on a project titled “Optimizing Health Evidence Presentation to Content Creators for Enhanced Incorporation into Content: A Mixed-Methods Approach,” in collaboration with CHC and Social Currant. This research aims to build on foundational work exploring how different presentation formats, from toolkits to AI-driven tools, impact content creators’ ability to disseminate health information.

Ariel previously contributed to a research paper that assessed the feasibility of peer group mobile-messaging interventions, conducting descriptive and qualitative analyses and presenting findings in comprehensive tables and graphs. She also played a key role in building collaborations with community partners, leading weekly taskforce meetings and updates. Her organizational skills were put to the test when she spearheaded the planning and monitoring of a public workshop on digital health awareness for attendees during World No Tobacco Day in 2022. Beyond her academic pursuits, Ariel is building on a venture dedicated to addressing the unique mental health challenges faced by Asian Americans. She is designing an app that provides online psychoeducation and peer support, offering culturally adaptable preventative measures.

Andy Burness is an instructor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where he teaches the course “Practical Communication Strategies and Tactics for Influencing a Healthier World.”

Burness is also founder and president of Burness, a mission-driven global communications firm supporting nonprofits and the people they serve.  The company has partnered with more than 600 nonprofit and governmental organizations over its more than 35 years.

Burness and his colleagues showcase solutions to the problems that cause poverty, hunger, disease and environmental degradation, often taking little-known ideas that can benefit humanity and developing communications strategies and tactics for taking these ideas to scale.  The team’s unwavering mission is to help extraordinary people share their research and tell their stories for the good of the world.

In addition to his role at Harvard, Burness is currently on the faculty of The George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs.  He has also been an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard  Kennedy School of Government.

Burness has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Duke University and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Maryland.

Dr. Lindsay E. Rosenfeld is an Instructor in the Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a social epidemiologist with research, practice, and policy interests focused on the social and structural determinants of health and child equity. She specializes in health literacy, families, children and youth with complex needs, and organization/systems change. Dr. Rosenfeld also holds appointments at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and Boston Children’s Hospital as well as consultancies in Greater Boston and across the country.

Dick Tofel is a distinguished visiting fellow in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where he led a faculty seminar on “The Pandemic, the Press, and Public Health” and teaches a course on “Engaging with the Press.”

Dick is also the principal of Gallatin Advisory LLC. Prior to that, he was the founding general manager (and first employee) of ProPublica from 2007-2012, and its president from 2013 until September 2021. As president, he had responsibility for all of ProPublica’s non-journalism operations, including communications, legal, development, finance and budgeting, and human resources.

He serves on the board/advisory board of the American Journalism Project, the Center for Media Engagement at the University of Texas, Austin, the Center for News, Technology & Innovation, The Dial, Harvard Public Health magazine, Outlier Media, Outrider Foundation, Retro Report, the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Center for Media and Democracy in Israel.

Tofel is a graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School (masters in public policy).

Dr. K. “Vish” Viswanath is Lee Kum Kee Professor of Health Communication in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) and in the McGraw-Patterson Center for Population Sciences at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). He is also the Faculty Director of the Health Communication Core of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC). Other additional administrative and scientific leadership positions held by Dr. Viswanath include: Director of the Center for Translational Communication Science, DFCI; Director, Harvard Chan India Research Center and Director, Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness, Harvard Chan. He is the founding Director of DF/HCC’s Enhancing Communications for Health Outcomes (ECHO) Laboratory.

Dr. Viswanath’s work is driven by two fundamental concerns: (a) how to center equity in drawing on translational communication science to promote health and well-being for ALL population groups, and (b) to involve community-based organizations and stakeholders through participatory research in promoting social change. The ultimate goal of the program of research in his lab is to influence public health policy and practice through knowledge translation and translational communication. His work draws from literatures in communication science, social epidemiology, dissemination and implementation, and social and health behavior sciences.

Natalie Ezem (she/her) is a student in the Master of Science in Global Health and Population program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Prior to her time at Harvard, she received her bachelor’s degree in Sociology with minors in Global Health and Chemistry from Duke University. Natalie also has extensive experience in clinical research as an undergraduate student and as a full-time clinical research coordinator at the Duke Department of Population Health Sciences, where she focused on several research areas, including health equity, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, intellectual and developmental disabilities, health communication, palliative care, and K-12 child nutrition.

In addition to her research experience, Natalie is an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-B). She has also served as a public speaker, written and directed a short film, and worked as an actress and co-director of All of the Above, a female-identifying monologue showcase group.

Ultimately, Natalie is passionate about health systems innovation, tackling health disparities, creating new materials to facilitate health communication, and researching challenges to healthcare quality and access for noncommunicable diseases in the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa.

From El Paso, Texas, Disha Ganjegunte is a current student in the Masters of Global Health and Population program at Harvard Chan School of Public Health. She graduated from Texas Tech University double majoring in Nutritional Sciences and General Studies; with minors in Chemistry, Biology, and Theatre:Acting. As a first-generation student in the US, Disha has worked with the House of Representatives, the UNICEF Foresight Circle, the Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship, served as the Post Secondary Vice President of Texas HOSA, and has been featured on several shows such as the “Late Late Show with James Corden” and the “Jennifer Hudson Show.” Disha has studied and works with conflict negotiation in several high violence countries such as Ireland/Northern Ireland, South Africa, Israel/Palestine, and on the Texas/Mexico border. Using her diverse work experience, Disha wants to create awareness, empathy, and positive change throughout a global community. Her use of directing, film making, acting, and keynote speaking are one outlet that she utilizes to work towards this goal. Her most recent work includes incorporating important global and social issues into the short film, “To Be Loved,” and interning with the Oscar-nominated production company, Smartypants Productions.

Sylvia Hartmann (she/her) completed her Masters degree in the Department of Health Policy and Management in 2023. A medical doctor with a degree from Charité Berlin in Germany, Sylvia has more than six years of experience in climate change and health and planetary health. She co-founded the German Alliance on Climate Change and Health, serving as its vice-chair and helping to lead its communication and advocacy work. Sylvia also founded the Harvard Chan Health Diplomacy Student Association and is interested in communicating health benefits and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration.

Kynza Khimani (she/her) received her Masters degree from the Department of Global Health & Population. She graduated from the University of Connecticut in May 2022, where she studied Physiology & Neurobiology and Public Health. As an undergraduate student, she conducted research examining the experiences of children and families with PANS (Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Disorder), specifically looking at the role of nutrition in PANS treatment. She also worked with Dr. Doug Brugge in his collaborative research project CAFEH (Community Assessment of Freeway Exposure and Health), a set of studies examining the impact of ultrafine particles from traffic on cardiovascular health. She brings her passion for population health to the Center for Health Communication’s Student Advisory Board.

Sam’s research focuses on the intersection of health communication, media, and technology. Their dissertation examines the use of AI-driven tools in health literacy assessments, as well as ways to understand health communication beyond the transfer of information. As a student advisory board member, Sam is looking forward to contributing their viewpoint to better link students with training and resources for communication in today’s complex media environment.

Katherine Rapp (she/her) is a student in the Master in Public Health Generalist program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she brings experience in both science and communications. She currently works as a communications strategist for nonprofits, medical associations, and patient advocacy organizations at JPA Health, a public relations agency exclusively serving the health sector.
Katherine is passionate about data-driven communications and translating complex science for a lay audience. Prior to her work at JPA Health, Katherine focused on social determinants of health research as a health policy and communications coordinator at the American College of Physicians and as a research fellow at The Root Cause Coalition.
Katherine earned a bachelor of science in food science at Iowa State University, where she currently serves on the alumni board for the University Honors Program.

Karishma Swarup (she/her) is pursuing a Master’s in Public Health student in the Social and Behavioral Sciences concentration at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is an internationally experienced sexuality educator and advocate who runs a sex ed Instagram page @talkyounevergot. Karishma was awarded “Influencer of the Year 2021” by UK’s NHS SH:24 and Brook. In 2023, she received a grant from UNESCO and RNW Media for Digital Sex Ed creators to create a course for other content creators in the sexual health. Simultaneously, Karishma also worked at a social impact consulting firm, Dalberg Advisors to design large-scale strategies for global non-profits and multilateral organizations (like the UNDP).

During her undergraduate at Brown University, she volunteered with Planned Parenthood to teach sex-Ed to high-schoolers. In India, she conducts workshops & online webinars with top educational institutions, student groups and young adults.

Karishma is passionate about destigmatizing sexual health, facilitating health communication, and understanding how public health systems can better serve sexual health needs.

Jordan Tralins (she/her) is a first year Pathways medical student at Harvard Medical School. Before coming to Harvard, Jordan received her undergraduate degree in Human Biology, Health, and Society from Cornell University with minors in Health Equity and Human Development. As an undergraduate student, Jordan founded The COVID Campus Coalition, a grassroots organization that was created to combat COVID-19 misinformation by transforming findings from peer reviewed studies into engaging TikTok videos and Instagram infographics. Through the COVID Campus Coalition, Jordan partnered with the White House to reach young vaccine hesitant populations and collaborated with US Surgeon General Murthy to unite student leaders in a critical discussion surrounding COVID vaccines. She also worked for the American Lung Association as a TikTok Medical Communication Intern; through this role, she created lung health education TikTok videos for ALA’s national platform.

Since coming to Harvard, Jordan has partnered with CHC to found the Medical Communication Coalition, a student-led educational initiative that partners with global public health organizations to amplify data-driven public health recommendations on social media platforms like TikTok. Outside of her medical communication interest, Jordan serves as a community outreach chair of HMS’s Disabilities in Medicine and Dentistry Working Group. She is also a representative on her class’s Well-being committee.

Katherine Van Woert (she/her) is a first-year student in the Master of Environmental Health program at Harvard. She is a recent graduate of Northeastern University where she received her bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a Concentration in Legal Studies and a Minor in Public Health. She has previously worked as a research assistant in the Environmental Reproductive Justice Lab and the Center for Health Communication at Harvard. She is experienced in community engaged research and has co-led multiple educational interventions for youth in the Boston area. She also has experience with qualitative coding in a health communication context. Katherine is grateful to be a part of the CHC Student Advisory Board and excited about the future applications of different health communication techniques as solutions for complex public health problems!

Meng Meng Xu (she/her) is the Clinical Director of Eye Services at the South Boston Community Health Center and a faculty member at the New England College of Optometry. She has 10 years of experience delivering eye care to underserved communities and designing international educational programs in eye care.  She also mentors international students on communication skills and cultural competency and is interested cross-cultural communication and public health literacy.  She holds a Masters in Public Health in Health Management from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.