Ranchoff Selected for U.S. Policy Communication Training Program

Brittany Ranchoff, a doctoral candidate in the department of health promotion and policy, has been invited to participate in the Population Reference Bureau’s U.S. Policy Communication Training Program. The program aims to bridge the gap between research and policy environments, bringing together the research community and policy audiences to learn various ways to communicate findings.

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In June, Ranchoff attended an in-person, weeklong workshop in Washington D.C. that comprised the program’s first component. Sessions included writing workshops and group sessions aimed at strategic communications, and helped participants learn how to craft evidence-based messages and effective presentations, with the aim of identifying how research and policy communication can inform policy change.

The Population Reference Bureau (PRB) is a private, nonprofit organization that promotes and supports evidence-based policies, practices, and decision-making to improve the health and well-being of people throughout the world. It works in the United States and internationally with a wide range of partners in the government, nonprofit, research, business, and philanthropy sectors. Its policy communication training program is supported by funding from the NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

“I am honored and humbled to have been selected to participate in the Population Reference Bureau’s 2022-23 U.S. Policy Communication Training program,” says Ranchoff. “It has been a privilege learning and interacting with research and policy experts, as well as other doctoral candidates to build my skills in communicating research findings with policy stakeholders.”

Ranchoff notes that one of her biggest obstacles as a researcher has been learning how to translate epidemiological methods and study findings into something that is more accessible for policy-making decisions. “During the workshop, I learned strategies on how to be an effective communicator and presenter and had the opportunity to apply these skills to my own work. I am continuing to work on these skills since the program extends beyond the workshop and provides support for my ongoing work. Being able to increase the accessibility of my research will be especially useful as I work through my dissertation and think about who I want my audience to be, what story I want my research to tell, and the public health impact I want this work to make.”

Over the course of the 2022-2023 academic year, Ranchoff will apply the lessons learned at the workshop by preparing two policy communication products (such as policy briefs, blogs, or op-eds) based on her dissertation or other research results and receive feedback from PRB staff along the way. Once completed, she will become eligible to apply for travel grants to present her work at a policy-oriented meeting, conference, or section.

“While research degrees do not always emphasize practice and policy, I understand the importance and necessity of such collaboration and design my own research questions with public health policy relevance in my mind,” says Ranchoff, whose research interests include childbirth related to health outcomes, maternal mortality and morbidity, decision-making, and health disparities. “I am drawn to a career in research because research presents itself as a puzzle, and the pieces need to be put together correctly and effectively. One of those pieces is engaging with the policy development process; and as a health services researcher, it is essential to have effective communication skills to advocate for policy changes to improve the population health over the life course.”