Amelia Burke-Garcia | Director, Center for Health Communication Science
NORC at the University of Chicago

Dr. Amelia Burke-Garcia is a seasoned health communications professional with 20 years of experience in health communication program planning, implementation, and evaluation. At NORC, she leads the organization's Center for Health Communication Science, in which role, she designs and implements strategies that leverage the science of communication to influence behavior. Over the course of her career, Dr. Burke-Garcia has spearheaded some of the most innovative communication programs and studies on a variety of health topics. Since 2020, she has been overseeing the award-winning How Right Now/Que Hacer Ahora campaign, which aims to increase people’s ability to cope and be resilient. Other prior work has included acting as director for CDC’s National Influenza Vaccination Campaign. She also has worked with MeetUp groups and the Waze mobile application to move people to action around flu vaccination and HIV testing, respectively. Finally, she has been examining the role of influencers in health communication and research for more than a decade and has recently expanded this work to look at the role of AI in opinion leadership, specifically leading what she is calling, “Health Communication AI”. Dr. Burke-Garcia is the author of the books, Influencing Health: A Comprehensive Guide to Working with Social Media Influencers, and Communicating Through a Pandemic: A Chronicle of Experiences, Lessons Learned, and a Vision for the Future. She has been highlighted by the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, for her work in honor of Women’s History Month and has been named to VeryWellHealth.com’s list of 10 Modern Female Innovators Shaking Up Health Care. She is a Founding Member of the Society for Health Communication, a member of the Council for Quality Health Communication, and sits on the Board of Directors for the non-profit, Vaccinate Your Family. She earned her bachelor’s degree in International Development Studies and Humanistic Studies from McGill University, her master’s degree in Communication, Culture and Technology from Georgetown University, and her PhD in Communication from George Mason University.