About CDC

The CDC Leaders

Katherine Lyon Daniel, PhD

Associate Director for Communication

Dr. Katherine Lyon Daniel is Associate Director for Communication at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where she applies behavioral science, health communication, and social marketing principles to improve public health and people’s lives.

Prior to the establishment of OADC, Dr. Daniel served as the Deputy Director of the National Center for Health Marketing at CDC, then the lead U.S. organization for health communication science and social marketing for public health. Her work there included oversight of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Dr. Daniel previously spent five years as the Associate Director of Communication Science at the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at CDC, where she provided expertise in behavioral science research, health communication, and social marketing, principally in the area of maternal and child health.

Dr. Daniel’s professional achievements include conducting and publishing behavioral research studies, leading national communication campaigns, and developing health interventions for vulnerable populations. Other areas of interest include health literacy, public engagement for controversial issues, prescription medication sharing, social media, health decision making influence of moms, and risk perception. In 2010-2011, she was welcomed into the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative at Harvard University.

Katherine has a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Virginia, and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Irvine in Social Ecology, where her dissertation research focused on communicating long-term health risks to the US Senate. She is the recipient of numerous professional communication awards, including two HHS Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service, the International Academy of Arts and Sciences Questar Grand award, the MarCom Creative Gold award, and the Public Relations Society of America’s prestigious Silver Anvil award. She lives and tweets in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and two adorable sons, for whom she makes all health-related decisions.