R Craig Lefebvre

R. Craig Lefebvre, PhD is an architect and designer of public health and social change programs. He is an Adjunct Professor of Prevention and Community Health at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. Most recently he was the Chief Maven at Population Services International (PSI) where he led PSI's technical teams in capacity-building, HIV, malaria, child survival and clean water programs, reproductive health, and social marketing as well as its research and metrics functions.

An internationally recognized expert in social marketing and health communication, Craig's work has addressed a multitude of health risks, aimed at various diverse audiences, and often featuring local implementation strategies. Among his clients and issues have been the US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Public Health Agency of Canada for online and social media approaches to health information and health behavior change; the National Cancer Institute's ASSIST tobacco control program, 5 A Day for Better Health and various cancer communication programs; the US Department of Agriculture and school nutrition issues (Team Nutrition) ; the Health Care Financing Administration (now CMS) and Y2K health care industry compliance; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and numerous health communications and social marketing projects; the US Agency for International Development and behavior change communications for AIDS Control and Prevention (AIDSCAP); and state health agencies focused on chronic disease prevention and behavioral risk reduction. He began his career as the Intervention Director of the Pawtucket Heart Health Program, one of the world's first community-based research programs for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Craig is the author of over 60 peer reviewed articles and chapters in the areas of community health promotion, social marketing and behavioral medicine and has made over 175 presentations at professional meetings and invited venues. His professional service includes the Technical Expert Panel – Assessment of the Healthy People Objective-setting Framework and Process; the Behavior Change Expert Panel for the National Bone Health Campaign; Program Chair of the 2003 Innovations in Social Marketing Conference; participation on two National Cancer Institute Special Emphasis Review Panels for Centers of Excellence in Cancer Communications Research; Advisory Board of the Social Marketing Institute; National Advisory Committee, University of South Florida, College of Public Health’s Prevention Research Center; Co-editor of Social Marketing Quarterly; and Founding Member of the Health Communication Focus Area Working Group, Healthy People 2010.

Dr. Lefebvre has held faculty appointments at the University of Virginia, Brown University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of South Florida. He was elected a member of the American Academy of Health Behavior in 2003 and a Fellow in the Council on Epidemiology and Preventive Cardiology, American Heart Association in 1988. His work has earned him the William D. Novelli Award for Innovations in Social Marketing with the NCI’s 5 A Day media campaign and a Silver Anvil from the Public Relations Society of America for the USDA Team Nutrition program. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from North Texas State University and completed post-doctoral fellowships in Behavioral Medicine at the University of Virginia and the University of Pittsburgh.