Available for Interview:
Mary Jo Deering, Ph.D.

Partnerships and healthfinder^®
Senior Spokesperson

Mary Jo Deering, Ph.D.

Dr. Deering is the Director of Health Communication and Telehealth for the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (since 1988). She is the chair of the Partnerships Conference Steering Committee and is the visionary behind the development of the healthfinder® Web site, and its team leader.

Dr. Deering is an expert in telehealth policy issues and has served as a member of the FCC Advisory Committee on Telecommunications and Health Care. She is the lead HHS staff on the National Health Information Infrastructure Work Group of the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics. She also oversees an external Science Panel on Interactive Communication and Health, which is developing recommendations for assessing innovative communications technology for health. Dr. Deering serves as the Associate Editor for the Journal of Health Communications and on the Editorial Board of Social Marketing Quarterly.

"When users are basing their healthcare decisions on knowledge gained on the Internet, it becomes critical that the information they receive is reliable and credible. Consumers need to learn the difference between the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to Internet health information - healthfinder^® now offers the essentials for "smart Web surfing" - a driver's manual for the health information superhighway."

For more information, or to arrange an interview, please contact Rosie Dempsey, Media Relations Director, at 202-832-4633 or rdempsey@health.org

04/02/01