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Chris Thomsen
Director, Office of Communications and Public Liaison
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Ms. Thomsen is Director of Communications and Public Liaison at the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health. The Office of Communications develops materials for the public and health care practitioners, serves as liaison with the media, implements health education and outreach initiatives, and operates NCCAM's Information Clearinghouse.

Ms. Thomsen's career as a health communicator includes 15 years at the National Cancer Institute, where she directed the Public Inquiries Program and the Cancer Information Service. Under her leadership, the CIS expanded its clinical trial and smoking cessation counseling services, increased access through the Internet and other technologies, developed as a laboratory for cancer control research, and fostered international collaboration and exchange.

Ms. Thomsen is a founding member of the International Cancer Information Service Group and remains a member of the board of directors. With the German CIS, she co-hosted the Annelies Schleich Scholarship Program, facilitating an exchange fellowship for staff between the U.S. and German programs. She has conducted workshops and given talks throughout the world on cancer information programs and has consulted with numerous organizations on how to set up a CIS program in their countries.

She is an award-winning science writer and has developed education programs and consumer pieces on breast cancer, cystic fibrosis, Huntington's disease, and other health conditions.

Ms. Thomsen has a degree in English Literature from Ohio University and is an ovarian cancer survivor.

Last Updated: 8 January 2008