Brian A. Primack (born April 22, 1969) is a higher education administrator, medical researcher, author, and speaker with expertise in interrelationships among media, technology, and health.[1] He is dean of the College of Health at Oregon State University. He is the author of You Are What You Click: How Being Selective, Positive, and Creative Can Transform Your Social Media Experience.[2]

Brian A. Primack
Brian A. Primack
Dean of the
College of Health
Oregon State University
Assumed office
June 30, 2022
Preceded byF. Javier Nieto
Personal details
Born (1969-04-22) April 22, 1969 (age 55)
Alma materYale University
Harvard University
Emory University
University of Pittsburgh

Education

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Primack earned a B.A. in English and mathematics from Yale University (1991), an Ed.M. in education, human development, and psychology from Harvard University (1993), an M.D. from Emory University (1999), and a Ph.D. in clinical and translational science from the University of Pittsburgh (2011).[3][4]

Career

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University of Pittsburgh

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After completing medical residency in family medicine at UPMC St. Margaret Hospital in 2002, Primack joined the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. In 2014, he became assistant vice chancellor for research on health and society and founding director of the Center for Research on Media, Technology and Health.[5] He was promoted to full professor of medicine with tenure and secondary appointments in pediatrics and clinical and translational science in 2016.

In 2017, he was named the third dean of the University of Pittsburgh Honors College, where he also held the Bernice L. and Morton S. Lerner Endowed Chair.[6]

University of Arkansas

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In 2019, the University of Arkansas flagship campus named Primack the dean of its College of Education & Health Professions, the second-largest college at the university, with over 6000 students and about 500 faculty and staff members. He was holder of the Henry G. Hotz Endowed Chair and professor of public health with tenure. He was also awarded a secondary appointment as a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Oregon State University

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In 2022, he became the third dean of the College of Health at Oregon State University. In this role, he leads about 2400 undergraduate and graduate students and 150 faculty and staff members across two campuses studying in fields such as public health, exercise science, physical therapy, nutrition, and human development and family sciences.

Research and scholarship

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Primack has more than 250 peer-reviewed publications in areas spanning public health, behavioral science, substance use, mental health, and education.[7] Primack's research has focused on interrelationships between media, technology, and health, both physical and mental. His research into alternative tobacco and nicotine products such as hookahs and electronic nicotine delivery systems has heightened public knowledge and influenced policy measures.[8][9][10][11][12] He has also studied social media and mental health outcomes including depression, anxiety, and loneliness.[13][14][15][16][17] Other areas of study include racial disparities in tobacco marketing,[18][19] relationships between media use and health behaviors,[20][21][22][23] and leveraging innovations in media literacy education to improve health education.[24] He has also spoken at TEDMED about video games and health behavior change.[25] He is the author of You Are What You Click: How Being Selective, Positive, and Creative Can Transform Your Social Media Experience,[2] which was published in 2021 by Chronicle Books.

Honors and awards

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The Society of Adolescent Health and Medicine honored him with the Charles E. Irwin New Investigator Award in 2006,[26] and the Society of Behavioral Medicine honored him with its Early Career Investigator Award in 2010.[4][27] His 2017 publication on social media and social isolation was named the American Journal of Preventive Medicine's most impactful article of the year.[28] He was elected into the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2019.[29] His book You Are What You Click was selected by Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Susan Cain, and Daniel Pink as a nominee for the 2021 Next Big Idea Club Award for nonfiction.[30] Cloud Lake Literary named You Are What You Click a best read for 2021,[31] and Publishers Weekly said that the book "hits the sweet spot, offering small steps to empower readers while breezily educating on how social media influences their health."

References

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  1. ^ "Success comes from lifting others". Synergies. 2022-07-12. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
  2. ^ a b Primack, Brian A. (2021-09-14). You Are What You Click: How Being Selective, Positive, and Creative Can Transform Your Social Media Experience. Chronicle Prism.
  3. ^ "Grantee: Brian A. Primack, M.D., Ph.D." National Cancer Institute Division of Cancer Control & Population Services. 2019-01-15. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  4. ^ a b Roche, Walter F. Jr. (2010-04-21). "Newsmaker: Dr. Brian A. Primack". TribLIVE. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  5. ^ "More Social Connection Online Tied to Feelings of Isolation". UPMC | Life Changing Medicine. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
  6. ^ "Pitt Names New University Honors College Dean". University of Pittsburgh News Services. 2017-06-05. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  7. ^ "Brian Primack named dean of OSU College of Public Health and Human Sciences". Synergies. 2022-01-10. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
  8. ^ Intwala, Sunny (2018-05-17). "Young American smokers get half of their smoke through hookahs: Study". ABC News. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  9. ^ "Deeming Tobacco Products To Be Subject to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as Amended by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act; Restrictions on the Sale and Distribution of Tobacco Products and Required Warning Statements for Tobacco Products". Federal Register. 2016-05-10. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  10. ^ "Advisory Note Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking: Health Effects, Research Needs and Recommended Actions for Regulators". World Health Organization. 2015. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  11. ^ "E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults" (PDF). Surgeon General. 2016. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  12. ^ Sun, Lena. "Study: Teens using e-cigs much more likely to start smoking cigarettes". Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  13. ^ "Loneliness can be hazardous to your health, experts warn". TODAY.com. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  14. ^ Hobson, Katherine (2017-03-06). "Feeling Lonely? Too Much Time On Social Media May Be Why". NPR. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  15. ^ Farr, Christina (2018-08-01). "Facebook and Instagram roll out new features to help us realize when we're wasting time on the apps". CNBC. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  16. ^ Garsd, Jasmine (2018-08-06). "#Blessed: Is Everyone Happier Than You On Social Media?". NPR. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  17. ^ Pawlowski, A. (2018-04-23). "Feeling lonely? How to stop social media from making you feel isolated". Today. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  18. ^ Bakalar, Nicholas (2007-08-28). "Insights: Racial Disparity Affirmed in Tobacco Advertising". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  19. ^ Saul, Stephanie (2018-05-13). "A Flavoring Seen as a Means of Marketing to Blacks". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  20. ^ "Alcohol and Drugs Abound in Pop? Who Knew?". The New York Times. 2008-02-06. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  21. ^ Bakalar, Nicholas (2009-02-05). "Behavior: TV Time Linked to Depression in Future". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  22. ^ Shute, Nancy (2008-02-05). "Drugs and Alcohol and Your Kids' Music". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 2019-01-23.
  23. ^ Schnabel, Jim (2009-06-11). "Media research: The black box". Nature. 459 (7248): 765–768. doi:10.1038/459765a. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 19516315.
  24. ^ Brown, Jane D. (October 2006). "Media Literacy Has Potential to Improve Adolescents' Health". Journal of Adolescent Health. 39 (4): 459–460. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.07.014. ISSN 1054-139X. PMID 16982377.
  25. ^ "Brian Primack". TEDMED. 2014. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  26. ^ "Charles E. Irwin New Investigator Award". Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. 2019. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  27. ^ "Membership Awards". Society of Behavioral Medicine. 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  28. ^ Boulton, Matthew L. (September 2018). "American Journal of Preventive Medicine 2017 Article of the Year". American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 55 (3): 431–432. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2018.06.003. ISSN 0749-3797. PMID 30033028. S2CID 51709241.
  29. ^ Ardehali, Hossein (2018-12-12). "New members, 2019". The American Society for Clinical Investigation. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  30. ^ Primack, Brian. "You Are What You Click: How Being Selective, Positive, and Creative Can Transform Your Social Media Experience". Next Big Idea Club. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
  31. ^ "Book Review: You Are What You Click by Brian A. Primack". Cloud Lake Literary. 29 September 2021. Retrieved 2022-09-14.