Amy E. Chadwick

Amy E. Chadwick serves as the Barbara Geralds Schoonover Professor of Health Communication in the School of Communication Studies at Ohio University, with additional affiliations in the Communication and Development Studies Program, Center for International Studies, Translational Biomedical Sciences program, and Diabetes Institute.

Education

• Ph.D. from Penn State University

Research Focus

Her work centers on health and environmental communication, examining how messages influence attitudes and behaviors regarding vaccination, climate change, obesity, and advance care planning. She pioneered a theory of persuasive hope, investigating how hope-inducing messages drive pro-social change and affect psychophysiological stress responses. Her research also addresses health and environmental disparities in rural Appalachia through interdisciplinary approaches combining communication science with public health.

Scientific Recognition

• Top Paper Award, International Communication Association
• Top Paper Award, National Communication Association

Grants and Applied Work

As Principal Investigator for UNICEF, she developed Vietnam's national disaster response communication strategy and leads capacity-building workshops in Bangladesh. She has executed federally funded research for CDC, USDA, and FDA on fluoridation, food safety, disease prevention, and child welfare initiatives, translating academic research into real-world communication solutions across 13+ years of professional practice.

Academic Contributions

She teaches graduate courses in health campaigns and quantitative methods alongside undergraduate instruction in climate change communication and persuasion, bridging theoretical frameworks with practical applications through her Diabetes Institute and Translational Biomedical Sciences collaborations.