Dr. Vish Viswanath
vish_viswanath@dfci.harvard.edu

K. ‘Vish’ Viswanath is an Associate Professor at Harvard’s Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the School of Public Health at Harvard University. Before Coming to Harvard, Dr. Viswanath was the Acting Associate Director of the Behavioral Research Program, Division of Cancer Control & Populations Sciences, National Cancer Institute. As Acting AD of BRP, Dr. Viswanath was responsible for 50 scientific and administrative staff and for extramural scientific developments in behavioral sciences at NCI. He was also a senior scientist in the Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch. He came to the National Cancer Institute from Ohio State University where he was a tenured faculty member in the School of Journalism and Communication with an adjunct appointment in the School of Public Health. Dr. Viswanath was also a Center Scholar with Ohio State’s Center for Health Outcomes, Policy, and Evaluation Studies.

Dr. Viswanath’s research interest is in using a macro-social approach to the study of communication with his most recent work focusing on mass communication and social change and health communication in both national and international contexts with particular focus on communication inequities and disparities. He has been involved with planned social change projects in India and the United States. Dr. Viswanath has published on such topics as communication and health campaigns, diffusion of new communication technologies, international communication, and women and media in different journals including Gazette, Media Culture and Society, Health Communication, Journalism Quarterly, Communication Research, American Behavioral Scientist, Health Education Research, and chapters in a number of books. He has also co-edited the book, Mass Media, Social Control and Social Change with David Demers.

Dr. Viswanath is also active in professional organizations. He was the Chair of the Mass Communication Division of the International Communication Association and just completed his tenure as the President of the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research. He was the Head of the Theory and Methodology Division of the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication. He is also a member of American Society for Preventive Oncology, the American Public Health Association, the American Association for Public Opinion Research & the Society for Behavioral Medicine.

Dr. Viswanath received his doctoral degree in Mass Communication from the University of Minnesota.

Research interests

First, we are studying the reasons for limited access to information technologies and hope to develop strategies that will enhance access among the poor to improve access to cancer related information. Second, we are studying medical reporters and the conditions of their work, so that we can help bridge the worlds of science and journalism in ways that will improve health communication. Finally, we are examining the effects of news and entertainment on cancer knowledge, attitudes, and behavior — and will use these findings to design effective messages about cancer risk and prevention.