天美传媒

Dr. Bozlak is an associate professor in the Department of Health Policy, Management, and Behavior at the University at Albany School of Public Health. She also co-directs the HRSA-funded Maternal and Child Health Program at the School of Public Health. She will serve as the co-faculty director of the Maternal and Child Health certificate program at the University at Albany, once approved. Her expertise is in the area of maternal and child health. Dr. Bozlak previously co-chaired the American Public Health Association MCH Section鈥檚 Adolescent and Young Adult Health Committee, and she is a member of the New York State Youth Development Team. She is also a member of the National MCH Workforce Development Center鈥檚 Pipeline Team.  

Prior to joining the University at Albany in 2012, Dr. Bozlak was the Advocacy Program Manager for the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC), a program of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children鈥檚 Hospital of Chicago.  She holds her MPH in health policy and management, and she completed a fellowship in the Illinois Governor鈥檚 Office. She received her PhD in 2010 from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) School of Public Health Community Health Sciences Division. She also served as an instructor and program administrative coordinator for the UIC Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health (formerly the Maternal and Child Health Program).

Dr. Bozlak鈥檚 research is in the area of maternal and child health, and specifically childhood obesity prevention with a focus on policy, systems, and environmental change strategies. She has conducted community-engaged research with faith-based organizations, youth-serving organizations, and organizations dedicated to addressing food insecurity. Her current partnership with the Alliance of New York State YMCAs began in 2013 and has resulted in three studies focused on childhood obesity prevention. She is also a co-investigator on the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research-funded 鈥淓nvironmental and Nutritional Benefits of Food Recovery and Redistribution: A Pilot Assessment in New York鈥檚 Capital Region鈥� study. Along with colleagues, she co-edited the book, "Participatory Action Research" (Oxford University Press).

I am a Professor at the University at Albany School of Public Health. I am a health communication scholar who uses theories, concepts, and methods from the fields of public health and communication. My research focuses on health literacy as well as the effects of media on attitudes, behaviors, and policies that put young people (children, adolescents, young adults) at risk for negative health outcomes.

My main area of expertise is health communication. My work in this area has primarily focused on the effects of media and/or technology use on health attitudes, knowledge, and behavior, health information seeking among youth and parents, and identifying best practices for the dissemination of health information to the general public, including through news and social media. It has also involved a focus on health literacy. Much of my work focuses on children, adolescents, young adults and parents, and I often seek to include groups impacted by health disparities. I also examine the use of digital technology for health information and health interventions, also known as eHealth.

I have published my work in journals such as the Journal of Health Communication, Pediatrics, Public Health Management and Practice, Journal of Children and Media, and Public Health Nutrition.

鈥婤efore starting at UAlbany, I was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania. I earned my Ph.D. from the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.