Ashley Duggan

Ashley Duggan is a Professor of Health Communication at Boston College, co-director of the BRANCH initiative, and holds professional appointments at Tufts University School of Medicine and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). She earned her Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2003. Her research bridges communication science with healthcare, focusing on relationship dynamics in medical contexts, trust in physician-patient interactions, and the integration of communication theory into medical education. She has led interdisciplinary initiatives in primary care research, telemedicine ethics, and positive health sciences.

Education includes a B.A. in Telecommunication Arts from the University of Georgia (1993), M.A. in Speech Communication (1997), and Ph.D. in Communication (2003), all from the University of Georgia and UCSB. Her work emphasizes the reciprocal influence of communication and health outcomes, with a focus on family medicine, substance use disorders, and disability communication.

Research interests span health communication, primary care relationships, and the application of relationship science to medical training. Notable publications include Health and Illness in Close Relationships (Cambridge University Press, 2019), which won the Gerald R. Miller Outstanding Book Award. She has also contributed to telehealth ethics, medical student empathy, and trust-building in healthcare.

Awards include the Berscheid-Hatfield Mid-Career Achievement Award (2022) and leadership roles with the International Association for Relationship Research and National Communication Association. She co-leads the BRANCH initiative to advance communication-centered healthcare research and partnerships with medical institutions.