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NORC at the University Chicago

Amelia Burke-Garcia

Pronouns: She/Her

Director of Digital Strategy & Outreach
Public Health
Director
Digital Strategy & Outreach Program Area
Amelia is a seasoned health communications professional with nearly 20 years of experience in health communication program planning, implementation and evaluation.

At NORC, she leads the organization’s Digital Strategy & Outreach Program Area, where she designs and implements strategies that leverage the power of digital media to influence behavior. In this role, Amelia develops new digital and mobile data collection methodologies and communication solutions. 

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 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. She also currently leads three studies focused on for three studies examining social media influencers’ effects on their followers’ vaccine-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors.

Over the course of her career, Amelia has spearheaded some of the most innovative communication programs and studies on a variety of health topics, including designing a targeted social media intervention with mommy bloggers to help social media users lower their risk for breast cancer, and leveraging MeetUp groups and the Waze mobile application to move people to action around flu vaccination and HIV testing, respectively.

She is the author of the book, Influencing Health: A Comprehensive Guide to Working with Social Media Influencers, and her new book, Communicating Through a Pandemic: A Chronicle of Experiences, Lessons Learned, and a Vision for the Future, is slated to be released in 2023.

Quick Links

Expertise

Education

PhD

George Mason University

MA

Georgetown University

BA

McGill University

Appointments & Affiliations

Advisory Board Member

Society for Health Communication

Honors & Awards

Recognition for her work in honor of Women’s History Month | 2022

U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, for her work in honor of Women’s History Month

Named to “10 Modern Female Innovators Shaking Up Health Care” | 2020

VeryWellHealth.com

Project Contributions

How Right Now/ Qué Hacer Ahora

A communication initiative to increase people’s resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic

Client:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Foundation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Older Adults Awareness of New RSV Vaccine & Willingness to Receive It

Despite increased attention on risks from RSV, many U.S. adults unaware of the new vaccine

Funder:

NORC at the University of Chicago

Evaluating CDC’s Approaches to Enhancing Adult Immunization Uptake

A culturally responsive evaluation of CDC’s efforts to boost adult immunization uptake and advance equity

Client:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Publications

Research Library & Findings