Kimberly Kaphingst

I am a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Utah, and Co-Leader for the Cancer Control and Population Sciences Program, Scientific Advisor of the Inherited Cancer Research Shared Resource, and Director of Cancer Communication Research at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. I have been a professor at the University of Utah since 2014. My research interests are in health communication, cancer communication, digital health, genetic literacy, and informed consent. A major focus of my health communication research is in the context of cancer genetic and genomic information, examining patient responses to cancer risk information and individuals’ preferences for return of genetic information. I am interested in developing and testing digital health approaches such as chatbots to provide cancer genetic services and risk information to patients. I am also interested in implementing strategies to improve the process of consent into cancer-related clinical trials for patients with varying levels of health literacy.