Viswanath Lab

Lee Kum Kee Professor of Health Communication
(Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health [HSPH];
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute [DFCI])

Director, Center for Translational Health Communication Science, DFCI/HSPH

Director, Harvard Chan India Research Center

Co-Director, Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness

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.

His work so far has documented the relationship between communication inequalities, poverty and health disparities, and knowledge translation to address health disparities. He has written more than 300 journal articles and book chapters concerning communication inequalities and health disparities, knowledge translation, public health communication campaigns, e-health and digital divide, public health emergency preparedness and the delivery of health communication interventions to underserved populations.  He is the Co-Editor of four books and monographs: Mass Media, Social Control and Social Change (Iowa State University Press, 1999), Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research & Practice, 5th Ed. (Jossey Bass, 2015), The Role of Media in Promoting and Reducing Tobacco Use (National Cancer Institute, 2008) and A Socioecological Approach to Addressing Tobacco-Related Health Disparities (National Cancer Institute, 2017) and a co-author of The First 1000 Days of Life: Lessons from Social and Behavior Change Communication (Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, 2021). He was also the Editor of the Social and Behavioral Research section of the 12-volume International Encyclopedia of Communication (Blackwell Publishing, 2008)

He has served and continues to serve on several national committees including for the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM). He is currently the Chair of NASEM’s Consensus Study Committee on Understanding and Addressing Science Misinformation, a member of the Standing Committee on Advancement of Science Communication at NASEM,and was a member of NASEM’s Planning Committee on The Public Health Infodemic and Trust in Public Health as a National Security Threat: A Workshop.

In recognition of his academic and professional achievements, Dr. Viswanath received several awards including the Postdoctoral Mentor of the Year Award from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Joseph W. Cullen Memorial Award For Excellence in Tobacco Research, American Society for Preventive Oncology, the Dale Brashers Distinguished Mentorship Award, National Communication Association, Outstanding Health Communication Scholar Award jointly given out by the International Communication Association and the National Communication Association, the Mayhew Derryberry Award from the American Public Health Association (APHA) for his contribution to health education research and theory, and the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) Alumnus of Notable Achievement, University of Minnesota. He delivered the 23rd Annual Aubrey Fisher Lecture at University of Utah in 2009, and the Bettinghaus Endowed Lecture at Michigan State University in 2023. He was elected Fellow of the International Communication Association (2011), the Society for Behavioral Medicine (2008) and the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research (2006).

Administrative Assistant,
Viswanath Lab,
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute;
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health

Ms. Chau provides overall support to Dr. Viswanath and the team. Prior to joining the lab and Dana Farber, she was an Assistant Rooms Manager at the Fairmont Copley Plaza with years of experience in hospitality. Megan graduated from UMass Boston with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Sociology.

Data Programmer Analyst,
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Research Focus
As a Data Programmer Analyst at the lab, Dr. Dhawan’s work focuses on generating data-driven evidence for health communication strategies to improve public health by (1) informing public health programs and (2) influencing policy changes. Her research interests include health inequities in underserved and marginalized populations in both developed and developing nations. Dr. Dhawan has worked on projects to improve maternal and child health and adolescent health and adopt COVID-19 preventive behaviors like vaccines. Dr. Dhawan also has extensive experience in data collection using surveys; and data analysis and visualization using tools like R and Stata.

Background
Dr. Dhawan obtained a Master’s in Public Health from Tufts University School of Medicine, during which she developed an understanding of epidemiological and biostatistical methodology. She has also obtained a Ph.D. in Life Sciences from Humboldt University at Berlin, Germany, focused on cancer biology.

Program Coordinator, UMB-DF/HCC Partnership

Mary is the Program Coordinator for the Administration Core. She graduated from Case Western Reserve University in 2022 with a degree in Cognitive Science and Psychology. Her previous work has focused on improving care for patients with psychosis. Mary hopes to learn more about public health and creating equitable research studies.

Post-doctoral Research Fellow,
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health;
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Research Focus
Dr. Kikut-Stein integrates quantitative and mixed methods communication research with community-based participatory action approaches to address health inequalities. As an NCI T32 Cancer Prevention Fellow, her work focuses on mitigating inequalities in cancer prevention, communication, and research.

Background
Dr. Kikut-Stein received her PhD in Communication from the University of Pennsylvania.

Health Educator,
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Research Focus
Aileene’s research has focused on empowering marginalized communities through the use of participatory action research [PAR] and other community planning methods towards sustainable and healthy communities.

Background
Aileene holds a Bachelor’s degree in Community Development with a concentration in Community Health from the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Research Project Manager,
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Research Focus
Sitara is the DFCI project manager for LifeFirst SWASTH, a study funded by the National Cancer Institute that aims to bring tobacco cessation services to low-socioeconomic populations in Mumbai, India. She also contributes content to the Lab’s COVID-19 Dashboard, with an emphasis on equity and accessibility of health information.

Background
Sitara holds a Masters of Public Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, focusing on Health and Social Behavior and earning concentrations in Health Communication and Women, Gender, & Health. Before and during her graduate studies, she worked on interventions in the fields of domestic violence, mental health, breast cancer, gestational diabetes, oral health, and reproductive justice.

Post-doctoral Research Fellow,
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health;
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Research Focus
Dr. Marciano is the principal investigator of the HappyB project, which started in January 2022 and aims to study the link between digital media use and hedonic ad eudaimonic well-being in a cohort of about 1500 adolescents by using (intensive) longitudinal data. The project is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

Background
Dr. Marciano holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Neuroscience from Vita-Salute San Raffaele University (Milan, Italy). She completed her PhD in Health Communication from USI Università della Svizzera italiana (Lugano, Switzerland) in October 2021. During her doctoral studies, she investigated the link between digital media use, mental health, and personality in young people using different methodologies, including systematic reviews, meta-analyses, experiments, EMAs, trace and longitudinal data.

Associate Director,
Viswanath Lab,
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute;
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health

Sara manages operations and community engagement activities for research projects at the Viswanath lab.  These projects range from community-engaged research that is part of the UMass Boston and Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center U54 Outreach Core to global health projects funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She also supports community engagement efforts in Massachusetts, and has worked on several capacity-building projects that address health inequalities at the individual, organizational, and community levels (Click to Connect, PLANET MassCONECT, U54 Outreach Core, and Project IMPACT).

Background
Sara holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Boston University with a focus in Social and Behavioral Science and Epidemiology. Before joining DFCI, Sara worked at Boston University School of Public Health managing randomized controlled trials examining the residual effects of alcohol on occupational and academic performance, and the effectiveness of condom promotion interventions on STI reduction.

Her interest in working with under-served communities to address health inequalities and cancer prevention and control brought her to the Viswanath Lab in 2006.

Post-doctoral Research Fellow,
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health;
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Sarah Piombo, PhD, MPH, is a postdoctoral research fellow in the NCI T32 Training in Oncology Population Sciences program in the Department of Medical Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School.

Research Focus
Dr. Piombo’s research focuses on using social network analysis across the cancer continuum to understand how social networks impact health behaviors and outcomes and can be leveraged in interventions.

Background
Dr. Piombo received her PhD in Preventive Medicine (Health Behavior Research) and MPH from the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine.

Senior Program Manager,
Dana-Farber/ Harvard Cancer Center

Ms. Abigail Shain (Abigail Cook) is the Senior Program Manager for the UMass Boston- Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Partnership.

In this role, she serves as the liaison between the executive, evaluative, scientific and operational teams and is responsible for operationalizing program objectives and overseeing day-to-day Partnership activities. She manages the process for selecting new research projects, reporting to NIH and both internal and external Partnership communication.

Ms. Shain holds an MS in Administration from Boston College and is in the midst of pursuing an MPH from George Washington University.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Research Project Manager,
Dana-Farber/ Harvard Cancer Center

Research Focus
In this position, Dr. Taylor works in collaboration with institutional DEI offices to understand and address barriers to recruiting and retaining faculty of color who may be underrepresented at UMass Boston and DF/HCC. She draws on existing reports on DEI recruitment and retention issues and collects primary data to develop better practices for building and sustaining a diverse medical workforce. Dr. Taylor works with the scientific, operational and administrative teams within the U54 Partnership to plan and implement program activities that address issues of faculty diversity. Dr. Taylor is also responsible for developing and maintaining a network for mentors for diverse early-stage investigators and postdocs at UMass Boston, DF/HCC, and other institutions in the Boston metro area.

Background
Dr. Taylor holds Bachelors degrees in Sociology and African American Studies from the University of Florida and a Master’s degree in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also obtained her PhD in Sociology from UNC-Chapel Hill where her research interests and advocacy focused on race, gender, class, and the sociology of emotions and work.