I study the intersections among communication, public opinion, and population health. My research includes media content analyses of population health issues (i.e., health insurance, paid leave, childcare) as well as survey research to understand how media exposure and messaging in the information environment shapes public understanding of population health issues. I also assess how information about population health issues get disseminated to policymakers.
Sarah Gollust is a Professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. She is a founding member of the Collaborative on Media and Messaging for Health & Social Policy, an interdisciplinary group of researchers who study how media and messaging shape public opinions, attitudes, and behaviors. Dr. Gollust is a social scientist studying the intersections of communication, politics, and health policy. In her past research, she has examined media influences and public opinion around significant health policy issues, including obesity, health disparities, the Affordable Care Act, and cancer screening. She also examines how research is translated into health policymaking. From 2016 to 2022, Dr. Gollust was an Associate Director and then Senior Advisor of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Research Leaders, a national health equity research and leadership program. Dr. Gollust completed a postdoctoral fellowship in population health science at the University of Pennsylvania and she received her PhD in Health Services Organization and Policy from the University of Michigan.