FDA Taps Communication Professor for Risk Advisory Committee

NC State communication professor David Berube has been appointed to the Food and Drug Administration’s Risk Communication Advisory Committee.

The committee is designed to help effectively communicate risks associated with foods and pharmaceuticals to the public. Members are chosen based on their expertise in risk communications, social marketing and health literacy, among other fields, according to the committee’s website.

Berube, who previously served as the national chair of the risk communication division of the Society for Risk Analysis, studies risk analysis and management through a communication lens. At NC State, he teaches courses in the communication of science and technology, Risk Communication, Disaster Communication, Climate Change Communication and Communication and Social Change.

Berube’s appointment runs from October 2016 through September 2020. As new pharmaceuticals and medical devices are developed during the next four years, Berube said he looks forward to helping the committee communicate what the products are, assess what risk profile they may have and determine how they may be important to the public.