Allison Lazard, PhD

Assistant Professor
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Cancer Prevention and Control

Dr. Allison Lazard’s research focuses on how visual and interactive design influences the perceptions and impact of health communication. She uses communication and health behavior theories to identify and evaluate visual strategies to increase the effectiveness of health communication efforts. Partnering with content experts, Dr. Lazard has examined the impact of visual and interactive message design for variety of applied health topics, including: designing icons to communicate harms of smoking, evaluating website designs for tobacco prevention and control; assessing the impact of pictorial warnings for tobacco and sugar-sweetened beverages; evaluating the impact of implicit (visual) and explicit (text-based) claims in food marketing; leveraging visual metaphors to increase engagement with mental illness messages; tailoring interactive prenatal health education for secondary audiences (men); and using design cues to increase the feeling of being with others (social presence) with cancer prevention and survivorship apps. Dr. Lazard is interested in creating new partnerships to study how we can optimize the delivery of critical health information to have the greatest impact on health outcomes.