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Christy A. Thomsen

Director, Office of Communications and Public Liaison

Christy A. Thomsen

Christy A. Thomsen is the Director of the Office of Communications and Public Liaison (OCPL) at NCCAM. Ms. Thomsen provides strategic communications advice to NCCAM's Director and is liaison on communications with the NIH and the Department of Health and Human Services. As Director of OCPL, she manages the development of information and education materials for the public and health care practitioners, content management of the NCCAM website, liaison activities with the media, implementation of health education and outreach initiatives, and operation of NCCAM's Information Clearinghouse.

Since establishing the OCPL in the fall of 2001, Ms. Thomsen has developed a comprehensive communications program for NCCAM that, for the first time, brings evidence-based information on CAM to the public, practitioners, and researchers. In her tenure, Ms. Thomsen has built and leads a team that envisions, develops, and implements a multifaceted communications program that deals with a field that is controversial, that has many critics, and that needs understanding and education. Using the principles of social marketing, she established NCCAM as an authoritative source for credible, science-based information on CAM. Under her leadership, NCCAM

Ms. Thomsen's career as a health communicator includes 15 years at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), where she directed the Public Inquiries Program and the Cancer Information Service (CIS), NCI's national information and education network. Under her leadership, the CIS expanded its clinical trial and smoking cessation counseling services, increased access through the Internet and other new media, developed as a laboratory for cancer control research, and fostered international collaboration and exchange. In 2001, she received the Marion Morra Award for outstanding contributions to the CIS on its 25th anniversary. She is a founding member of the International Cancer Information Service Group of 27 member countries and serves as vice president of their board of directors.

Ms. Thomsen is the author of numerous publications for cancer patients and their families as well as scientific publications. She has developed education programs and consumer pieces on cystic fibrosis, Huntington's disease, and other health conditions, worked as a journalist, and taught high school English. She has received many awards and commendations, including the NIH Director's Award and the FDA Commissioner's Special Citation.