Renata Schiavo, Ph.D., M.A. is a senior health communications consultant and the Founder and Principal of Strategic Communication ResourcesSM, which provides strategic health communications counseling, training, and program evaluation and strategic planning counseling only to non-profit health organizations and foundations and other leading U.S. and international organizations in the public health field.  She is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Health at New York University, Steinhardt School, Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health, where she is on the faculty of the Community Public Health and Global Public Health M.P.H. programs (Courses: Health Communication: Theory and Practice; Cross-Cultural Health Communications).

Renata has over 18 years of international healthcare experience, which includes the US, and several countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. She has had the opportunity to work on staff or as a consultant for non-profit organizations, corporations, communications agencies, universities, research laboratories and governments.  Her communication work has focused, in addition to others, on the following health areas: oncology/cancer, HIV/AIDS, malaria, leishmaniasis, CNS disorders/mental health, cardiovascular diseases, women’s health, respiratory diseases,
obesity, biotechnology, infectious diseases, childhood immunization, adolescent immunization, flu immunization, global handwashing, Lyme disease and primary nocturnal enuresis.

Renata’s fields of expertise include: strategic planning, strategic behavior communications, marketing communications, health communication training, patient and professional communications, constituency relations, public relations, media advocacy, social marketing, audience/market research, pre-testing/field studies, internet-based communications, corporate communications, branding, cross-cultural health communications, reaching vulnerable populations, and strategic partnerships.

Renata served as Executive Vice President at the Cooney Waters Group (CWG), one of the largest independent healthcare communications agencies in the United States.  Prior to joining CWG, she formed and headed the Corporate and Marketing Communications Department of Rhodia Farma, the Brazilian affiliate of Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi-Aventis).  Previously, she worked in the healthcare divisions of the New York communication agencies Manning Selvage & Lee and Noonan/Russo Communications.

Renata also worked as a senior advisor to UNICEF-Angola and the local Ministry of Health on malaria prevention strategies as well as on evaluating local communications programs.

Formerly, Renata was a post-doctoral research scientist at Columbia University and New York University, where she worked on numerous molecular and cell biology projects in the areas of cancer and cystic fibrosis.

Renata is a member of the American Public Health Association (APHA), the National Association of Medical Communicators (NAMC), the Public Health Association of New York City (PHANYC) and the Society for Public Health Education and Promotion (SOPHE).  She serves as the 2007-2008 Chair of the APHA Health Communication Working Group, as well as on the APHA Governing Council as a representative of the APHA Public Health Education and Promotion section (PHEHP). She is a member of the advisory board of Cases in Public Health Communication and Marketing, an on-line peer-reviewed journal. Renata has also contributed with articles and opinions to the Communication Initiative (CI) and is a member of the COMBI (Communication for Behavioral Impact) Global Technical Network (GTN), which is maintained by the World Health Organization (WHO).  
 
She is the author of a book on Health Communication: From Theory to Practice (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, April 2007) and other publications in the field of health communication.

Renata holds a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Naples (Italy) and a M.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications from New York University.  She is fluent in English, Italian and Portuguese and can read and understand Spanish and French.