Nationally-Known Health Communication Expert Teresa Thompson Speaks

Health Communication and professor of communication at the University of Dayton, will present "There and Back Again: Health Communication Research." She will trace the development of the study of health communication and provide career advice for those who study it.

Thompson's research focuses on health communication and gender and communication. For the last few years, she has been examining messages that influence organ donation preferences. Other areas of interest have included ethics in health communication and coping with bereavement.

Her research has been published in scholarly journals, as well as The Wall Street Journal, Glamour and on "The Tonight Show."

When: 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 6

Where: The Belo Center for New Media Briefing Room (5.208), 300 W. Dean Keeton St.

Background: The John P. McGovern Lecture was established in the Moody College of Communication in 1983 by a gift from the John P. McGovern Foundation. The endowed lectureship enables Moody College to invite a leading figure in communication to deliver a lecture related to health policy or the practice of health communication.

John P. McGovern, M.D., was a celebrated physician, educator, author, medical historian, philosopher, philanthropist and humanitarian based in Houston. According to the American Medical Association, he was "one of the giants in American medicine." His international reputation in various fields was reflected in honorary degrees from 30 colleges and universities. He died in 2007.

About The University of Texas at Austin Moody College of Communication

One of the nation's foremost institutions for the study of advertising and public relations, communication sciences and disorders, communication studies, journalism and radio-TV-film, The University of Texas at Austin Moody College of Communication is preparing students to thrive in an era of media convergence. Serving more than 4,700 undergraduate and graduate students, Moody College is nationally recognized for its faculty members, research and student media. For more information about Moody College, visit http://moody.utexas.edu.

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Contact: Laura Byerley, (512) 471-2182; Wade Lee, (512) 232-5466.