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Public Information and Liaison Branch (PILB)

What We Do:

The Public Information and Liaison Branch is responsible for NIDA's information dissemination activities:

  • Initiates and monitors press relations activities
  • Manages and maintains NIDA websites for multiple audiences
  • Responds to information inquiries from the public
  • Conducts public education campaigns, including National Drug Facts Week
  • Manages the development and dissemination of NIDA publications
  • Coordinates NIDA's exhibits program
  • Provides graphics and video support services
  • Publishes NIDA Notes newsletter about NIDA-supported research activities
  • Responds to Freedom of Information Requests

Staff Biographies:

Carol Krause, M.A., Branch Chief, PILB

 Ms. Krause joined Office of Science Policy and Communications (OSPC) in 2006 as the Chief of the Public Information and Liaison Branch (PILB), where she has launched several innovative programs, including National Drug Facts Week, the first Addiction Science Awards at the annual INTEL Science and Engineering Fair, and the National Centers of Excellence for Physician Information.  As Chief, PILB, Ms. Krause oversees a staff of communications professionals with expertise in Web, media, publications, and health education campaigns.  In other government service, Ms. Krause was selected to be the first Communications Director of the HHS Office on Women’s Health (HHS OWH) in 1997 and launched the National Women’s Health Information Center, the government’s premiere health Web site for women, which won a designation as one of the Top Ten government Web sites in the year 2000, and soon after achieved the highest grade of all government web sites rated by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).  Ms. Krause has more than 25 years’ experience in health education in the public and private sector. She began her career as an Emmy Award winning television journalist covering medical and political issues, and has written a nationally published book on family medical histories. Carol has a B.A. in Political Science from the George Washington University and an M.A. in Communications and Public Affairs from American University.

David Anderson, Public Health Advisor

Mr. Anderson joined the Public Information and Liaison Branch in the Office of Science Policy in February 1999 and assumed the editorship of NIDA Notes. In 2002 he founded NIDA’s peer reviewed journal Science & Practice Perspectives (subsequently renamed Addiction Science & Clinical Practice; AS&CP), and edited both publications until 2011, when Evans Medical Foundation and Biomed Central acquired AS&CP.  Mr. Anderson has been Senior Editor of RN, a journal for nurses, and Contemporary Internal Medicine, for primary care physicians. He has also served as founding editor of CV Nurse and contributing editor to Patient Care and Business & Health magazines. Mr. Anderson has a master's degree in Population and International Health from Harvard School of Public Health, and has written original research and policy monographs on international issues in abortion, AIDS, male fertility, and Russian mortality for the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population. Other health-related organizations he has worked with include the Pan American Health Organization, Pathfinder International, Data for Decision-Making, and the Harvard Center for Population and Development.

Josie Anderson, Visual Production Specialist

Ms. Anderson joined the Public Information and Liaison Branch (PILB) team in October of 2012 and filled one of NIDA’s newest positions - Visual Production Specialist.  Currently, she works directly with the PILB Branch Chief, while also augmenting the NIDA Director and Press Team.  The Visual Production Specialist is just one example of how NIDA is progressing in the world of mass media and innovative technologies.  Combining the technical skill of video production and the operational support of public relations, the possibilities for NIDA are endless in this new venture.  Prior to NIDA, Ms. Anderson served in the United States Air Force (USAF) for ten years, as a Broadcast Journalist. Her military experience includes pioneering the first USAF media outreach team in Iraq, lead videographer for the USAF Thunderbirds, and was an on-location correspondent during combat, training and humanitarian missions in over 15 countries.  She also attended the Defense Information School with a background in Public Affairs and Broadcast specialties.

Elisabeth Davis, M.P.H., Public Health Analyst

Ms. Davis joined Office of Science Policy and Communications (OSPC) in 2006 as a Public Health Analyst.  Currently, Ms. Davis serves as a Project Officer for the Physicians Outreach project (referred to as our NIDAMED/NIDA Centers of Excellence project) and for the Educational Marketing project (referred to as our Scholastic project).  The Physicians Outreach project includes working with 8 medical schools around the country to develop innovative medical education curriculum resources on drug abuse and addiction, an evaluation study, the development of products for and Advertising/ marketing to practicing physicians, and much more!  The Scholastic project involves the creation and design of print articles (3 per year that each appear in 6 magazines), posters, and web-only content for middle and high school students and teachers.  In addition to these projects, beginning in 2009 Ms. Davis was tasked as the Project Manager/Coordinator of NIDA’s first ever National Drug Facts Week, a health observance week for teens.  Prior to coming to NIDA, Ms. Davis held a variety of positions in the field of Public Health including Senior Research Coordinator for an adolescent health and media study at the University of Pennsylvania, Annenberg School for Communications and the Director of a community/school-based violence prevention program in Philadelphia.  Ms. Davis also worked on projects/studies of women and heart disease, adolescent obesity, prenatal health, gun violence prevention, educational programs in prisons, and health insurance for children. 

Kimberly DiFonzo, Senior Media Specialist (Contractor)

Ms. DiFonzo joined Office of Science Policy and Communications (OSPC) in April 2008 with over 20 years of public relations experience working for trade associations, non-profit organizations and public relations firms. Her experience combines a broad knowledge of healthcare communications and media relations, as well as educational program development and execution. Kim is a member of the NIDA press team and responds daily to inquiries from national, local and social media on a wide variety of issues related to drug addiction research. She prepares spokespeople for media interviews, assists with the implementation of media outreach campaigns and events, including National Drug Facts Week, Monitoring the Future, and the Addiction Performance Project, and writes and edits various press materials. Prior to NIDA, Kim worked in the public relations office at the American Psychological Association, wrote public relations materials on behalf of the President of the American Nurses Association, served as a national spokesperson for the blood services program at the American Red Cross, and managed the Campaign on Clinical Depression while at Burson-Marsteller.  Kim received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, VA.

Mark Fleming, M.A.,  Webmaster

Mr. Fleming joined Office of Science Policy and Communications (OSPC) in December 2000 as the Webmaster in the Public Information and Liaison Branch. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in zoology from Miami University in Ohio and a Master of Arts in visual communications from Ohio University. He has worked for NIDA for the past 27 years, both as a contractor and now as a federal employee. He established the Visual Media Unit to provide photographic and graphic arts support for NIDA intramural research in 1986. In addition, he established the NIDA web site in 1995 and has worked since then to increase its scope and exposure.  Recently, his work has focused on migrating the NIDA sites to a content management system, which allowed creation of a full responsive design version of NIDA’s site as well as delivery of NIDA publications in e-pub format.   As NIDA’s 508 coordinator, Mr. Fleming and his support team work with NIDA staff to ensure all information products meet accessibility regulations.  With the new site launch and remediation to other NIDA web properties, NIDA reached 99% compliance in 2012.

Sheri Grabus, Ph.D., Acting Press Officer

Dr. Grabus joined the Office of Science Policy and Communications (OSPC) in November 2010 as the NIDA Deputy Press Officer and began managing the press team in early 2013, bringing a strong science background to NIDA’s media outreach efforts.   Sheri was trained as a neuroscientist and has a Ph.D. from American University in Psychopharmacology and Neuroscience. As a postdoc at Virginia Commonwealth University, she designed mouse models of nicotine dependence and reward, and studied nicotinic agonists, antagonists, and bupropion. She has also taught at the college level—including courses in psychology, substance abuse prevention and treatment, and she has lectured on drug dependence, pharmacology and drugs and pain control.  Prior to joining NIDA, Sheri served as Executive Director for a small-town Chamber of Commerce and was in charge of all marketing, public relations, sales and media relations.

Janet Linton, Web Analyst

Ms. Linton joined Office of Science Policy and Communications (OSPC) in March of 2009 to provide web support to the NIDA Webmaster. Her primary tasks include: ensuring NIDA’s content is compliant with section 508, overseeing NIDA’s Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube accounts. Ms. Linton helped design NIDA’s National Drug Facts Week (NDFW) website, and is responsible for all updates and maintenance. Prior to joining OSPC, Ms. Linton worked as a lead operator, training and overseeing employees, at the PNC Bank Operation Center in Baltimore, MD. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Animation from Westwood College.

Brian Marquis, Program Analyst

Mr. Marquis joined Office of Science Policy and Communications (OSPC) in January 2002 as the Information Center Manager for the Public Information and Liaison Branch. He is now the NIDA Public Liaison Officer and connects with organizations across the country with the help of NIDA publications and Web sites. Prior to joining OSPC, Mr. Marquis worked at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Publications Clearinghouse and as a contractor at National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.  He has a B.S. in Family Studies from University of Maryland, College Park. 

Aaron Martinek, Web Analyst (Contractor)

Mr. Martinek has been a contractor with NIDA for over 13 years. Originally a Graphic Artist at NIDA’s Intramural Research Program (IRP) in Baltimore, he switched his role to Web Analyst, and moved to Office of Science Policy and Communications in 2005 to focus on NIDA's websites. Mr. Martinek handles everything from web development to design for digital/print materials. He holds a Graphic Artist degree and has over 20 years’ experience in the field of design.

Stephanie Older, JD, Deputy Branch Chief

Stephanie Older became the Publication Information and Liaison Branch’s Deputy Branch Chief in early 2013, managing publications and media efforts, as well as supporting virtually all outreach activities across the Branch. She joined NIDA’s press team in 2008, and became the press team leader in 2010, when she launched NIDA’s social media program, energized NIDA’s media response capabilities and enhanced outreach to high school and college journalists.   Her prior communications experience includes media work for both corporate and non-profit organizations, most notably as the media liaison for the National Breast Cancer Coalition. Ms. Older holds a law degree from the University of Baltimore as well as a B.A. in communication from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining NIDA, she served as Attorney-Advisor to an Associate Chief Judge at the U.S. Department of Labor.

Lanette Palmquist, Program Analyst

Ms. Palmquist joined Office of Science Policy and Communications (OSPC) in November 1999 as a Program Analyst.  Prior to joining OSPC, Ms. Palmquist was a Program Analyst in the Office of Science Policy at the National Center for Research Resources, NIH where she was responsible for a vast array of projects including contracts, evaluations and analyzing budget data.  Ms. Palmquist is responsible for handling the Institute’s Freedom of Information (FOIA) requests and responding to e-mail queries and social media posts from the public.  She also serves as the Alternate Contracting Office Representative (COR) for the Scholastic contract and assists OSPC staff with various projects. Ms. Palmquist received her B.A. in Biology and Psychology from Mount Holyoke College.

Shirley Simson, Senior Media Specialist (Contractor)

Ms. Simson joined Office of Science Policy and Communications (OSPC) in March of 2006.  She has almost 20 years of experience developing, managing, and implementing successful public relations programs, with an emphasis on health communication and social marketing. Ms. Simson has worked on behalf of a number of federal clients, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Food and Drug Administration; and the U.S. Department of Transportation. She also spent two years as a media spokesperson for the national headquarters of the American Red Cross. As a member of the NIDA press team, her responsibilities include responding to daily inquiries from national and local media on a wide variety of issues related to drug addiction research; scheduling and preparing NIDA spokespeople for press interviews; conducting proactive media outreach activities in support of NIDA press events and meetings; and writing and editing press materials. Ms. Simson received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

 

This page was last updated February 2012

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