Jeff Niederdeppe was recently awarded a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to design and test a variety of message strategies to improve public awareness of the various factors that influence health.

The project, part of a larger $5 million grant to the University of Wisconsin, is designed to help local officials in communities across the US make policy decisions which improve the health of their communities. Over the next three years, researchers involved in the project will develop and disseminate health rankings for each county in the United States. Dr. Niederdeppe's work is designed to ensure that these efforts are successful in promoting multi-sectoral investments in local communities to improve population health and reduce health disparities.  Jeff also was awarded the Top Health Communication paper at the ICA 2009.