Rima Rudd

Dr. Rima Rudd, now Emerta, had been a member of the faculty in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health for 34 years. Her research and teaching in health literacy focused on reducing health disparities and inequities by eliminating barriers to health information, programs, and care. One of the founders of and leaders in health literacy studies, Dr. Rudd developed and taught the first graduate course in health literacy, drafted the 2003 national call to action, served on the 2004 Institute of Medicine Health Literacy Committee, and has written and contributed to multiple health policy reports, white papers, and research studies. She is helping to broaden the notion of health literacy with attention to numeracy demands and other key factors including the communication skills of health professionals, the complexity of health materials and tasks, and the characteristics of healthcare organizations