Dr. Denise K. Scannell is the Innovation Center Chief Scientist – Health Communication Science. Throughout her 18-year history at MITRE, Dr. Scannell has provided strategic leadership across multiple centers, programs, projects, and technical capabilities. She is currently leading projects and capabilities focused on improving our digital information environment and addressing online harm, based on the development of her evidence-based framework, the Harmful Information Persuasion Exploration Framework (HIPE™). Dr. Scannell led research to address the growing “infodemic” of harmful online information on COVID-19 vaccines, resulting in the development of this unique framework, HIPE, to support creation of effective communication and intervention nationally and locally for underserved populations. This framework was published in the peer-reviewed journal, the Journal of Health Communication, and received recognition from both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization. She currently leads the HIPE Lab, which explores trends in harmful on-line information impacting behavior, decision-making, and public safety to create actionable interventions and build digital information literacy. She was also a key member of MITRE’s Sara Alert™ project focused on monitoring and reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic. She served as key engagement strategist for on-the-ground operations in over 20 jurisdictions across the United States, impacting six million U.S. citizens.
Dr. Scannell holds a Ph.D. in Health Communication Science from George Mason University and a MA in Communication Arts from Montclair State University.
Her research focuses on harmful online information, information literacy, persuasion, identity management and communication competence.
