Elena Carbone, professor of nutrition and associate dean for curriculum and academic oversight in the Commonwealth Honors College, was recently elected chair of the Committee on Research Standards for the International Health Literacy Association (IHLA). She will serve a three-year term as chair of the nine-person committee as its only U.S. member and will also sit on IHLA’s Executive Board. She previously served as the committee’s vice chair.

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Founded in 2016, IHLA is a nonprofit, member-based association dedicated to the professional development of its members and the health literacy field. It is committed to creating an international voice for health literacy and raising awareness worldwide.

The Standing Committee on Research Standards advances the quality of health literacy research within IHLA and around the world. It independently evaluates the health literacy research activities of IHLA’s interest groups and divisions and assists in the peer review of the health literacy research submissions to IHLA’s Global Health Literacy Summit.

The IHLA Standing Committee on Research Standards additionally provides outreach to inform health literacy practitioners, researchers and educators about best practices. The panel’s outreach enhances global collaboration, bridges gaps among academia, government, industry, and public interest organizations, and enriches the health literacy field’s professional extension and development.

“I’m delighted to be part of IHLA and honored to serve as chair of the Committee on Research Standards,” Carbone says. “Our top priorities this term will be training early career researchers and conducting a member survey to identify research priorities.”

Carbone works in community settings to examine how low-income, culturally diverse populations with limited literacy skills attend to, process and use health information. Her mixed-methods research engages communities and integrates behavioral interventions to promote health and prevent chronic disease complications. She is currently involved in research collaborations with colleagues in Canada and Ghana.