

Led by Janice Krieger, Ph.D., director of the STEM Translational Communication Center, in collaboration with Claire Baralt, CTSI director of strategy and planning, the CTSI Translational Communication Program unites expertise and resources from the UF College of Journalism and Communications (CJC), the CTSI strategic communications team and the UF Health Communications division to advance four aims:
- Incubate cutting-edge, interdisciplinary health communication research;
- Catalyze work at the intersection of communication research and practice by developing, implementing and evaluating theory-based communication strategies in support of CTSI projects and programs;
- Expand access to CJC graduate courses, lectures and programs to help current and future translational researchers develop core competencies and skills in health and science communication;
- Develop a consultation service through which research teams can obtain expert guidance on communication or dissemination strategy development; audience analysis and segmentation strategies; templates and best practices; and referrals to creative services, media training, compliance resources, research collaborators and dissemination partners.
The program grew out of the CTSI Communication Research Program, which was established in 2011 under the leadership of Debbie Treise, Ph.D., to facilitate research collaborations among UF’s clinical and translational researchers and the CJC’s health communication researchers. The CTSI program served as a catalyst and foundation for the university’s 2013 designation of translational communication research as one of 26 UF Preeminence initiatives.
Contact
Dr. Krieger, an expert in health communication, leads the CTSI and preeminence communication research programs with an overarching mission to improve human health and well-being by using messages to make scientific research more accessible, understandable and actionable. Investigators who plan to communicate to internal and external audiences as part of their translational research are encouraged to contact Dr. Krieger early in the planning stages to explore opportunities for collaboration and consultation.
Phone: 352-392-4046
Email: janicekrieger@jou.ufl.edu
Research Areas
CJC researchers have focused on health and risk decision-making, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease risks, eating disorders, genetic testing, hospital falls, infectious diseases, internet use for disease information, recruiting underrepresented groups to participate in clinical trials, sexual violence, sickle cell, smoking/ alcohol use, and STDs.
Highlighted Collaborations
- A research project exploring patient-related facilitators and barriers of inferior vena cava filter retrieval, a collaboration between Dr. Anita Rajasekhar and Jordan Neil
- An evaluation of the efficacy of a family-based decision-making intervention in the context of clinical research participation among underrepresented rural and African-American patients, a collaboration between Dr. Janice Krieger, Dr. Sri Kalyanaraman and Dr. Carolyn Tucker
- A CTSI pilot study on comorbidity and diagnostic communication preferences among patients with movement disorders, a collaboration between Dr. Catherine Striley, PI, and collaborators Dr. Cynthia Morton and Dr. Michael Okun
- A CTSI pilot study on design and feasibility testing of patientflix.com for COPD self-management education, a collaboration between Dr. Michael Stellefson, PI, and co-investigators Dr. Beth Chaney, Dr. Kim Walsh-Childers and Dr. P.S. Sriram
- A CTSI pilot study on predictors of the efficacy of CDC recommendations for the prevention and spread of infection, a collaboration between Dr. Treise, PI; co-investigator Dr. Michael Weigold; and collaborator Dr. Denise Schain
- Communication research led by Drs. Lisa Duke and Robyn Goodman to inform the development of recruitment materials for the Wellness Incentives and Navigation (WIN) project led by Dr. Betsy Shenkman
For more about the program’s collaborators:
- UF College of Journalism and Communications
- UF Health Communications
- College of Journalism and Communications faculty publications
- UF Health POST cover story, Oct. 2011: “Found in translation“