Leslie Snyder, PhD

Professor Emerita

Department of Communication

Research Overview

Leslie Snyder, Ph.D., is a professor emerita of communication sciences and director of the Center for Health Communication and Marketing, a CDC Center of Excellence, at the University of Connecticut. She conducts research on media effects, communication campaigns, health, and international communication. Dr. Snyder is particularly interested in the intended and unintended effects of public communication and how individuals interpret messages. Under the CDC Center grant, she directs a team testing a video game aimed at adults ages 18-26 in urban environments. She has funding from the National Cancer Institute to examine the effects of food ads on child and teen obesity. In the past, she was funded by the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse to study the effect of advertising exposure on youth alcohol consumption.

In addition, Dr. Snyder directs an on-going meta-analysis project examining the effectiveness of U.S. and international media campaigns on a variety of health topics. She is currently examining the effectiveness of AIDS campaigns under a National Institute of Mental Health Grant (Dr. Blair T. Johnson, PI) and the effectiveness of nutrition campaigns. Dr. Snyder has also served as a consultant on a number of national campaigns, including the National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) media campaign against youth drug abuse, the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Verb campaign promoting youth activity, the March of Dimes and CDC’s folic acid promotion campaign, and NIDA’s fetal alcohol syndrome campaign. She has also consulted for the National Academy of Sciences on diversity and campaigns.

Education

Ph.D., Stanford University, 1986 (communication)
M.A., Stanford University, 1983 (communication)
B.A., State University of New York at Albany, 1978 (mathematics)

Recent/Selected Publications

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