Dr. Rajiv N. Rimal Joins the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services as Chair of the Department of Prevention and Community Health

Dr. Rajiv N. Rimal Joins the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services as Chair of the Department of Prevention and Community Health

Newswise — WASHINGTON – The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS) recently named Rajiv N. Rimal, PhD, as Chair of the Department of Prevention and Community Health (PCH). He will also hold a faculty appointment as a professor in the Department. Dr. Rimal joins SPHHS from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH) where he held an appointment as Associate Professor in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society and was also Senior Evaluation Officer at the Center for Communication Programs in the JHSPH.

“It is with extreme pleasure that I welcome Dr. Rimal to the SPHHS community as chair of PCH,” said Lynn R. Goldman, MD, MS, MPH, dean of SPHHS. “Dr. Rimal brings 20 years of expertise in health communication and public health. He brings new leadership, innovation and enthusiasm to our school and will play a pivotal role in the forward growth of SPHHS as we continue to build our programs.”

In addition to his work in overall health communication, Dr. Rimal has focused on risk communication research and evaluation of health programs, particularly as they pertain to the design and dissemination of risk- and norms-based health messages. His work has focused on the role that risk-induced anxiety plays in people’s information seeking motivations and their information-processing abilities.

In particular his research has focused on HIV prevention work in Africa, including in Malawi, Namibia, Ethiopia, and Uganda. In Asia, Dr. Rimal is involved in evaluating the implementation of tobacco policies in five states in India and he is part of a large team promoting nutrition in 20 districts in Nepal. His work has been published in such prestigious journals as American Journal of Public Health, Health Communication, and Journal of Communication.

Dr. Rimal, born and raised in Nepal, received his Bachelor’s in engineering from India, a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and a PhD in Communication from Stanford University. He is the recipient of the Everett M. Rogers Award in Public Health Promotion and Health Communication given by the American Public Health Association.

About the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services:Established in July 1997, the School of Public Health and Health Services brought together three longstanding university programs in the schools of medicine, business, and education and is now the only school of public health in the nation’s capital. Today, more than 1,100 students from nearly every U.S. state and more than 40 nations pursue undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral-level degrees in public health. http://sphhs.gwu.edu/