Bio: Nicola J. Gray, a 2001-02 Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy, is a research associate in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Manchester. A practicing community pharmacist, her research and policy interests include adolescents' health and information channels, health literacy, direct-to-consumer advertising of medications, and improving access to medicines by extending prescribing rights. Gray was the 1999 recipient of the Pharmaceutical Care Award of the Pharmaceutical Journal and Glaxo Wellcome UK for excellence in the development of pharmaceutical services. She has also served as a member of numerous pharmaceutical societies, steering groups, and associations, including the Council of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and the steering group of Promoting Excellence in Consumer Medicines Information.
Placement: University of Rochester
Mentors: Jonathan Klein, M.D., M.P.H.
Project: Adolescent Information-Seeking on the Internet Regarding Health and Medications
Description: Gray's project explored adolescents' use of the Internet for health information, with the aim of defining elements of an educational package that could help them build health literacy. She undertook a content analysis of youth magazines in the U.S. and U.K. to determine the amount and nature of promoted health information websites. She also conducted a survey of students to gauge their Internet use, and conducted a series of focus groups on their perceptions of the Internet as a source for health information.