Health Medical

Cheryl K. Olson, Sc.D.

***** ********* ***** ***** *: abqfcc@r.postjobfree.com

Reston, VA 20190 T: 617-***-****

ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE

Co-Director (and Co-Founder), Center for Mental Health and Media, 2000-2010

Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

Designed, developed and managed this research, outreach and education center focusing on

the intersections of public health, mental health, neuroscience, and healthy child

development.

Accomplishments:

Designed and built this organization from scratch. Wrote business plan, created

budgets and timelines, hired and managed a multidisciplinary professional staff and

contractors, and mentored/published with junior researchers (faculty, post-docs and

graduate students).

Obtained both funding and political support within MGH/HMS. Responsible for

Center grantwriting and research design; secured two $1-million-plus government

grants as well as multiple foundation grants (e.g., the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation; the

Raymond and Beverly Sackler Fund for the Arts & Sciences) and individual donations.

Principal investigator for an innovative $1.5-million study (quantitative/qualitative) of

the effects of violent video games on young adolescents, which influenced public

policy at both the federal and state levels and resulted in a series of academic and

popular publications worldwide. Advised Congressional staff, the Pennsylvania State

Task Force on Violent Interactive Games and the pan-European game ratings

organization (PEGI).

Co-investigator for a $1-million media education and outreach program, funded by the

National Institute on Drug Abuse, to help journalists and the general public

understand brain research and its relevance to their lives, while increasing scientific

literacy and interest in science careers. This included creating a multimedia website,

distributing high-definition video news stories internationally via The

NewsMarket.com, and collaborating with the National Press Foundation to create

online education modules.

Other projects included developing and evaluating a DVD (in collaboration with

MGH s Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine) to motivate and teach

primary care physicians to diagnose mental illness among adolescents; creating an

educational website and audio documentary content on concerns of parents and

children in families built through ART (assisted reproductive technology); developing

a proof-of-concept video to help prevent suicide among college-age youth; and

consulting to MTV on college mental health.

In 2005, co-founded the ongoing Electronic Media and Behavior Change Interest

Group for Boston-area researchers, entrepreneurs and students who want to use

computers, television and other media to influence health and behavior.

Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital/ 2008-2011

Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

Instructor in Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical 2000-2008

School, Boston, MA

Research Fellow in Psychiatry (Psychology), Massachusetts General Hospital/ 1993-2000

Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

The MGH psychiatry department has been consistently ranked #1 in the nation by U. S. News

& World Report since 1996.

Unlike other schools within Harvard University, the Medical School does not grant tenure to

faculty members who are based at HMS-affiliated hospitals (i.e., the majority of HMS faculty).

For those at the Instructor level and above, salary and benefits are based upon hospital

position rather than faculty rank. Assistant Professors are routinely recruited for Professor,

Chair and Dean positions at other institutions.

Accomplishments:

See Center for Mental Health and Media, above.

Co-created and taught an annual seminar for physicians on ways to use mass and

targeted media as public health tools and as extensions of their research or clinical

practice. Mentored colleagues on public outreach efforts.

Taught part of a Harvard continuing medical education course on writing nonfiction.

Published extensively on original research and on issues related to public policy.

Created and taught a course on the design, conduct and analysis of focus group

research for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Visiting Scholar, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, Tufts 2004-2005

University, Boston, MA

Worked primarily with Richard M. Lerner, Ph.D., Bergstrom Chair and Director of the

Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development, on issues related to behavioral health

among adolescents. In conjunction with faculty appointment and work at Harvard/MGH.

Accomplishments:

Edited a popular book on child development written by a consortium of Tufts

faculty: Proactive Parenting: Guiding Your Child from Two to Six.

Visiting Professor of Pediatric Neuropsychiatry, University of Medicine and 1997

Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania

A summer position by invitation of their faculty. Included consulting to House with Open

Windows, an innovative health program for orphans and children without identity.

Taught a course for professionals (including physicians, attorneys, social workers and

policymakers) on effective strategies for health communication and health behavior change.

Instructor, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN 1986-87

Co-taught a graduate course on health communication.

CONSULTING EXPERIENCE

President, C.K. Olson, Inc. (previously known as Health and Science 1985-present

Communications, Inc.), Reston, VA

Ran a full-time and part-time health behavior consulting business in conjunction with

academic and other work. Staff ranged from solo practitioner to seven FTE plus

subcontractors, including external consultants.

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Recent projects include:

Developed strategies for and produced a dozen short documentary videos to

promote resilience and goal-setting among young adolescents as part of a national

afterschool curriculum; advised on evaluation design.

In response to C-suite concerns, produced and served as on-camera host for a series

of research-based videos to educate parents about children s media use; funded and

distributed internationally by Activision.

Currently writing a popular book on using empathy research to improve patient-

doctor communication and patient outcomes, in collaboration with Helen Riess,

M.D., director of the Empathy and Relational Science Program at Massachusetts

General Hospital/Harvard Medical School.

Other project examples:

Focus group research to help parents of children with mental health problems

collaborate successfully with schools.

Wrote a recurring column on adolescent health and development issues (e.g.,

sexuality, smoking, weight concerns) for Parents magazine.

Survey research to support California s effort to ban smoking in bars.

Evaluated the Tobacco-Free Challenge youth smoking prevention project.

Created radio- and poster-based social marketing materials to reduce unintended

pregnancies for a multi-state consortium led by Planned Parenthood of Utah.

Developed research/outreach strategies for the Carter Center s Mental Health

Program to reduce the stigma of mental illness.

Wrote and ghost-wrote several popular books (see below) on health-related topics,

including two New York Times best-sellers.

Produced, wrote and directed effective, award-winning videos on a wide range of

health and parenting topics for Fortune 100 companies, hospitals and makers of

innovative medical devices.

Clients have included nonprofits (e.g., Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, Thrive Foundation for

Youth, 4-H, Education Development Center, Public Health Institute, Partnership for Organ

Donation), educational institutions (e.g., Tufts University, University of Minnesota),

corporations (e.g., Activision, Altria, Martek Biosciences, 3M, Time-Life Medical, VTech),

and government agencies (e.g., California Department of Health; New York City

Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Alcoholism Services).

Global Strategic Communications Consultant, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Ltd., 1999-2000

Basel, Switzerland

Served as an internal consultant at corporate headquarters. Worked with multinational,

multidisciplinary drug development teams on strategies to minimize obstacles to faster

drug approval. Developed life-cycle strategic plans for four Roche product teams; worked

with teams on presentations and facilitated international and governmental meetings.

Consulted to senior management on improving internal and external communications.

Accomplishments:

Designed and implemented communication strategies and programs aimed at

patients, policymakers and health care providers on issues related to medical

illnesses, health literacy, and drug safety.

Examples include developing a research-based patient support program global

strategy for a weight-loss drug (Xenical), creating strategies for user testing of

patient information to be put forward by Interpharma as a European standard,

Cheryl K. Olson Page 3 of 6

revising European patient pregnancy prevention materials for Accutane (a

teratogen), and developing a risk communication strategy to address international

news coverage linking Accutane to suicides.

EDUCATION

2001

E.C.P.M. (Post-Doctoral European Certificate in Pharmaceutical Medicine), 2001

University of Basel, Switzerland

A part-time two-year multidisciplinary program offered jointly by the University of

Basel Medical School (Switzerland), Albert Ludwigs University Medical School

(Germany) and Louis Pasteur Medical School (France), encompassing topics from

management and marketing to R&D and pharmacokinetics.

1995

Sc.D. in Health and Social Behavior, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 1995

Dissertation: Training Teachers About Adolescent Depression. Research focused on

barriers to teacher involvement with youth mental health and behavioral health

concerns, and ways to overcome them. It included design and evaluation of video-

based education for high school teachers to increase early identification and referral

of potentially depressed or suicidal youth.

Was teaching assistant for course by media pioneer Tony Schwartz. Studied

statistics, research methods and children s media at the Harvard Graduate School of

Education.

1986

M.P.H. in Community Health Education, University of Minnesota School 1986

of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN

1981

B. A. Cum Laude in Communications, University of Minnesota College of 1981

Liberal Arts, Minneapolis, MN

SELECT HONORS

Numerous popular and professional presentations both nationally and

internationally, including keynote and plenary addresses on media-related

topics at the Rape Treatment Center/UCLA, Pan European Game Information

Congress (Malta), World Leisure Congress (South Korea), University of

Vienna (twice), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michigan State

University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Games for Health Conference

(Boston; sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation), and the

Montreal International Game Summit (Canada).

Dozens of interviews by U.S. and international media related to child

development, media and policy (e.g., NPR s All Things Considered, Diane

Rehm Show [WAMU], Brian Lehrer Show [WNYC], CTV [Canada], Wall Street

Journal, HLN, Asahi Shimbun and Daily Yomiuri [Japan], Huffington Post,

Laura Ingraham Show, Harvard Magazine, Mundo Estranho [Brazil], Global Post,

Boston Globe, ZDF/3sat [German TV], Sirius/XM Doctor Radio, Colombian

National Radio, Falter [Austria], Neue Zurcher Zeitung [Switzerland], Dagens

N ringsliv [Norway], Toronto Globe & Mail, Christian Science Monitor, Sydney

Morning Herald).

Cheryl K. Olson Page 4 of 6

Received the 2011 F.R.O.G. Award, recognizing exceptional contribution

to research and education, at the annual Future and Reality of Gaming

Conference, sponsored by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Economy,

Family and Youth and the University of Vienna.

Selected while a graduate student as a regional finalist for the highly

competitive White House Fellowship (1994).

Recruited by Albert Bandura, Ph.D., of Stanford University, to run the

Young Scholars Program during the weeklong meeting he chaired at the

Johann Jacobs Foundation in Switzerland (1993).

The only graduate student and the only American among 10 postdoctoral

researchers from around the world selected as Young Scholars to present

at the annual conference on youth issues hosted by the Johann Jacobs

Foundation in Switzerland (1992).

Won two CINE Golden Eagles (the most prestigious U.S. non-broadcast

video and film award) as writer/producer of Faces of Depression and Puzzle

Pieces (1991).

SELECT PUBLICATIONS (full list available upon request)

Original articles

Ferguson CJ, Olson CK. Friends, fun, frustration and fantasy: Child motivations for In press

video game play. Motivation and Emotion.

Ferguson CJ, Olson CK, Kutner LA, Warner DE. Violent video games, catharsis- In press

seeking, bullying and delinquency: A multivariate analysis of effects. Crime and

Delinquency. (Published online March 2010.)

Olson CK. Children s motivations for video game play in the context of normal 2010

development. Review of General Psychology, 14(2): 180-187.

Olson CK, Kutner LA, Baer L, Beresin EV, Warner DE, Nicholi AM II. M-rated 2009

video games and aggressive or problem behavior among young adolescents.

Applied Developmental Science, 13(4): 1-11.

Kutner LA, Olson CK, Schlozman SC, Goldstein MA, Warner DE, Beresin EV. 2008

Training pediatric residents and pediatricians about adolescent mental health

problems: A proof-of-concept pilot for a proposed national curriculum.

Academic Psychiatry, 32(5): 429-437.

Olson CK, Kutner LA, Warner DE. The role of violent video game content in 2008

adolescent development: Boys perspectives. Journal of Adolescent Research, 23(1):

55-75.

Kutner LA, Olson CK, Warner DE, Hertzog SM. Parents and sons perspectives on 2008

video game play: A qualitative study. Journal of Adolescent Research, 23(1): 76-96.

Olson CK, Kutner LA. Using electronic media to educate the public about science: 2008

Coping with the evolving media landscape. Media Psychology Review, 1(1).

Olson CK, Kutner LA, Warner DE, Almerigi JB, Baer L, Nicholi AM, Beresin EV. 2007

Factors correlated with violent video game use by adolescent boys and girls.

Journal of Adolescent Health, 40(7): 77-83.

Villani SV, Olson CK, Jellinek MS. Media literacy for clinicians and parents. Child 2005

and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 14(3): 523-553.

Olson CK, Kutner LA. Media outreach for child psychiatrists. Child and Adolescent 2005

Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 14(3): 613-622.

Cheryl K. Olson Page 5 of 6

Olson CK. Countering pro-tobacco influences at the racetrack: Notes from the field. 1999

American Journal of Public Health, 89(9):1431-1432.

Reviews, chapters, editorials

Olson CK. Using commercially available video games to promote real-world 2013

physical activity among young adolescents. In M. Consalvo, K. Mitgutsch, A.

Stein (Eds.), Sports Videogames. New York: Routledge.

Olson CK. It s perverse, but it s also pretend. New York Times. June 28:A21. (Invited 2011

op-ed on the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on California s violent video game

law.)

Olson CK, Kutner L. Psychiatry and the media. In T. Stern, J. Rosenbaum, M. Fava, 2008

J. Biederman, S. Rauch (Eds.), Massachusetts General Hospital Comprehensive

Clinical Psychiatry. New York: Elsevier.

Books, monographs, and textbooks

Kutner L, Olson CK. Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video 2011; 2008

Games and What Parents Can Do. New York: Simon & Schuster. Also translated

into Japanese, Korean and Lithuanian.

Beresin E, Olson CK (Eds.) Child psychiatry and the media. [Special issue.] Child 2005

and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 14(3).

Reichman J. (Olson CK, ghostwriter) Slow Your Clock Down: The Complete Guide to a 2004

Healthy, Younger You. New York: William Morrow.

Faculty of Tufts University s Eliot-Pearson Dept. of Child Development, Olson CK 2003

(Ed.) Proactive Parenting: Guiding Your Child from Two to Six. New York:

Berkeley Books.

Olson CK, Kutner L. Comparison of the Heath Effects of Alcohol Consumption and 2000

Tobacco Use in America. New York: American Council on Science and Health.

Kaehler K, Olson CK. Real-World Fitness. New York: Golden Books. 2000

Lunden J, Morton L. (Olson CK, ghostwriter) Joan Lunden s Healthy Living. New 1997

York: Crown. (New York Times best-seller).

Lunden J, Morton L. (Olson CK, ghostwriter) Joan Lunden s Healthy Cooking. Boston: 1996

Little, Brown (New York Times best-seller on weight loss).

Editorial boards/Reviewer

Served as a reviewer of articles (primarily related to media effects and health communication)

for journals in multiple fields including: Academic Psychiatry, American Journal of Play, American

Psychologist, Criminal Justice and Behavior, Developmental Psychology, Journal of the American

Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Journal of Health Communication, Journal of Investigative

Psychology and Offender Profiling, Journal of Personality, Injury Prevention, The Lancet, Mass

Communication and Society, and Social and Personality Psychology Compass.

Cheryl K. Olson Page 6 of 6

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