Dr. Lenora E. Johnson ‘81 (Biology), Ph.D., MPH
Director of the Office of Science Policy, Engagement, Education, and Communications
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute is the third largest institute at the NIH. The NHLBI Office of Science Policy, Engagement, Education and Communications (OSPEEC) provides comprehensive, integrated, and technology-driven communications support for all matters relating to outreach-oriented programs and activities directed toward the Institute’s vision and mission; serves as the Institute’s focal point for establishing and implementing information and education programs; develops short- and long-term communication policies and strategies in support of the mission and priorities of the NHLBI; addresses emerging and evolving communications, science planning and policy issues in consultation with internal and external stakeholders; provides a comprehensive and integrated information dissemination and education capability to ensure rapid, accurate, and consistent communications to the constituencies served by NHLBI; sets and provides oversight of policies and processes governing public-facing information channels including, but not limited to, NHLBI’s digital platforms; promotes the evolving NHLBI identity, and coordinates and integrates the activities of the Engagement and Media Relations Branch (EMR); Health Education and Digital Information Dissemination Branch (HEDID); and Science Policy, Outreach, and Reporting Branch (SPOR).
Interns and fellows will work alongside OSPEEC experts to translate scientific findings into understandable easy-to-ready messages, understand the role of communications and engagement in large-scale research initiatives, address the challenges of ensuring accurate and timely health information in a digital communications environment overloaded with myths, rumors and misinformation, understand the role that patient and community advocates and representatives play in advancing clinical research, and witness the importance of engaging with Congress on health issues of interest.
We partner with our program scientists across several divisions, offices, and centers to ensure the best experts are made available to the right audience/constituent and stand accountable to the public’s investments in research. Often these engagements require that we prepare scientific leaders and experts and capture these efforts.
The work of OSPEEC takes many forms. From planning gatherings of stakeholders, to interviewing scientists with specific stories to share, to preparing briefing materials for those speaking with legislative leaders on given topics. All efforts, however, require listening to the science, interpreting it with an ear for its value to specific, yet diverse audiences, and translating it into messages and formats that are accessible to the appropriate population or community. For examples, please visit the NHLBI website (https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/), or our other research initiative sites like the NIH RECOVER initiative (https://recovercovid.org/), or the NIH Community Engagement Alliance (https://ceal.nih.gov/).