Claudia Parvanta, PhD

Professor, Department of Health Policy and Systems Management

Director, USF Center for Social Marketing

Co-Director, Who Collaborating Center for Social Marketing

Concentration Lead, Social Marketing

Contact Info

• Office: CPH 2108
• Academic Email: [email protected]
• Academic Phone: (813) 974-7434
• View My C.V. | View My Website

Education

Discipline

Anthropology

Specialization

• Social Marketing & Health Communication

Biography

Claudia Parvanta, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Systems Management, and Director of the USF Center for Social Marketing. In addition, she participates in the Sunshine Education & Research Center for Occupational Safety, Health and Wellbeing, as well as the Infection Control for Emergency Responders program, both funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As an anthropologist working in social marketing, Dr. Parvanta examines how culture affects health behavior and develops audience-informed health and safety interventions. Her current research uses social marketing to address college student vaping and emerging nicotine products. She is also using facial expression and vocal analysis tools to identify effective tobacco cessation counseling approaches. Her research is funded primarily by the Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida. Before joining USF, (2005-17) Dr. Parvanta was the Chair of the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. From 2000 to 2005, Dr. Parvanta headed the Division of Health Communication at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and helped the agency expand its emergency communication capacity to respond to the 9/11 attacks, anthrax, and SARS. When not in government or academia, Dr. Parvanta has designed, managed, or evaluated programs, or offered capacity-building training in more than 25 countries. Her early days were spent working with the Los Angeles Public Health Foundation WIC program as their ‘consulting anthropologist’ and with Porter/Novelli, a leading social marketing company. Dr. Parvanta has received grants from the CDC, the Office of Minority Health, the Florida and Pennsylvania Departments of Health, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, among others. Her publications appear in peer-reviewed journals, and she is the lead author on three APHA endorsed textbooks in health communication.