Helen I. Meissner, Ph.D., Sc.M.

Helen I. Meissner

Director, Tobacco Regulatory Science Program

Helen Meissner, Sc.M., Ph.D., joined the ODP in February 2013 to assist with the establishment of the Tobacco Regulatory Science Program (TRSP). The TRSP coordinates the trans-NIH collaborative effort with the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products to foster tobacco regulatory research.

Dr. Meissner was Senior Advisor in the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) from 2007 to 2013, where she was responsible for public health and population science research initiatives. Dr. Meissner directed the OBSSR’s scientific initiatives in health literacy and health disparities. She also led the development of an annual training course, the Training Institute for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (TIDIRH) and was program chair for the annual NIH Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation. Dr. Meissner commissioned the development of Best Practices for Mixed Methods Research in the Health Sciences and has been developing related resources for NIH investigators.

From 1988 to 2007, Dr. Meissner worked in cancer prevention and control at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). She served as chief of the Applied Cancer Screening Research Branch in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, where she provided scientific leadership in support of social, behavioral, and communications research to promote the use of effective cancer screening tests. Dr. Meissner continues to serve as an associate editor for Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention.

Prior to joining NCI, Dr. Meissner was employed at the American Public Health Association, where she provided technical assistance to state and local health departments in their efforts to implement and evaluate community preventive health services programs.

Dr. Meissner has been recognized with an NIH Director’s Honor Award, five NIH Merit Awards, a Public Health Service Special Recognition Award, and a Department of Health and Human Services Special Service Award. She received both her Sc.M. in public health education and her Ph.D. in social and behavioral sciences from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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