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NORC at the University Chicago

Jennifer Berktold

Principal Research Scientist
Public Health
Jennifer’s work focuses on health communication message development and materials testing, social marketing campaign evaluation, and program evaluation.

Jennifer is a principal research scientist with more than 20 years of experience in qualitative methods and survey research. Her studies blend qualitative and quantitative methods to understand the impacts of communication campaigns and improve communication messages and outreach strategy.

Jennifer’s work has included development of national surveys, cross-site program evaluations, and formative research and evaluation for communication campaigns. She led a multi-mode evaluation for How Right Now/Qué Hacer Ahora, CDC’s campaign to promote and strengthen the emotional well-being and resiliency of populations adversely affected by COVID-19-related stress, grief, and loss. She co-developed a novel campaign evaluation framework that triangulates insights from multiple data sources to increase validity.

Jennifer has directed studies for FDA, where she oversaw the development and fielding of FDA’s Food Safety and Nutrition Survey (FSANS), a multi-mode general population survey that provides statistically valid national estimates of consumers’ food safety and nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and practices. She also led many projects for CDC’s Arthritis Program to evaluate the effectiveness of strategies to increase use of arthritis-appropriate evidence-based interventions, such as physical activity and self-management education programs. Jennifer has co-authored publications in the Journal of Health Communication, Health Promotion Practice, Public Health Reports, and Preventive Medicine Reports, among others. She has served as ad hoc reviewer for American Journal of Sociology, Health Promotion and Practice, and Journal of Health Communication. She has presented more than 20 papers at national conferences such as the American Association of Public Opinion Research, the American Evaluation Association, and the American Public Health Association.

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Expertise

Education

PhD

University of Chicago

MA

University of Chicago

BA

University of California, Berkeley

Appointments & Affiliations

Advisory Board Member | 2023 - Present

Society for Health Communications

Member, Standard Definitions Committee | 2019 - 2024

American Association for Public Opinion Research

Editorial Board | 2001 - 2003

American Journal of Sociology

Ad Hoc Reviewer

American Journal of Sociology

Ad Hoc Reviewer

Journal of Health Communication

Ad Hoc Reviewer

Health Promotion and Practice

Honors & Awards

University Fellowship | 1998 - 2002

University of Chicago

Project Contributions

COVID-19 Prevention Behaviors

Audience research to support tailored COVID-19 prevention messages and materials for people with disabilities

Client:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Evaluating CDC’s Approaches to Enhancing Adult Immunization Uptake

A culturally responsive evaluation of CDC’s efforts to boost adult immunization uptake and reduce disparities

Client:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Health Communication AI

Combining the trust-building ability of digital opinion leaders with the scalability of AI to revolutionize health communication

Assessing Distance Learning for the Bureau of Indian Education

Understanding how best to reach and teach students who lack broadband service

Client:

Bureau of Indian Education

Network-Driven COVID-19 Prevention for Vulnerable Populations (RADx-UP)

Randomized control trials to evaluate network-based approaches to promote COVID-19 prevention

Client:

National Institute of Drug Abuse

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

Evaluation Training and Technical Assistance Center (ETAC)

Evaluation training, TA, and rigorous evaluations for DoD sexual assault prevention activities

Client:

Department of Defense (DoD)

Postpartum Emergency Care Materials Development & Testing

Applying communication science to develop, test, and promote resources supporting clinician readiness for pregnancy-related emergencies

Client:

American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists

Publications

Research Library & Findings