Dr. Amelia Burke-Garcia
About
Dr. Amelia Burke-Garcia is an award-winning digital health communicator and researcher with more than 15 years of experience creating innovative and impactful digital interventions for health programs. Currently, she is the Program Area Director for Digital Strategy and Outreach at NORC at the University of Chicago. Dr. Burke-Garcia’s work has included supporting flu vaccination by working with MeetUp groups across the country and partnering with the Waze mobile application to promote HIV testing. She has also been examining the role of influencers in health communication and research for more than a decade. Dr. Burke-Garcia began her work with influencers in 2006 when she worked for Horizon Media, during which time, she led what was then called Organic Marketing using fledgling networks of influencers to promote products and brands. Dr. Burke-Garcia was then able to parlay this experience to support and advance health-related programs, which has included running the first-ever Tweet-a-Thon with online mommy influencers to promote adolescent vaccination. She has also led digital media initiatives for international nonprofits, Academy for Educational Development and Management Sciences for Health, and been a member of Merck’s Global HPV Social Media and Communications Expert Input Forum. She is the author of the S.O.C.I.A.L. framework for planning and evaluating digital campaigns and the author of the forthcoming book, Influencing Health: A Comprehensive Guide to Working with Online Influencers, which will be published by Routledge in July 2019. She is a member of the editorial board for Social Marketing Quarterly journal, a member of the Board of Directors for ShiftCon, the largest health and wellness influencer network in the U.S., and has been published in numerous books and journals. She was also recently named to VeryWellHealth.com’s list of 10 Modern Female Innovators Shaking Up Health Care and received a 2014 Social Media Icon Award by PRNews Group. She holds a Ph.D. in Communication from George Mason University, a Master’s degree from Georgetown University, and a Bachelor’s degree from McGill University.