Edna F. Einsiedel

Edna Einsiedel is University Professor and Professor of Communication Studies in the Department of Communication and Culture at the University of Calgary.

Dr. Einsiedel’s research interests are in the areas of health and risk communications and the social issues around life science technologies, focusing on social representations of technology among different publics, in the media and policy spheres. She is currently Principal Investigator (PI) on a project funded by Carbon Management Canada on publics and energy systems and co-PI on two projects funded by Genome Canada. Her studies have investigated mechanisms of public engagement and participation in technology assessment and decision-making, focusing on genomics, synthetic biology and renewable energies.

She has received research support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (now known as Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions), the Stem Cell Network Centre of Excellence, Genome Canada, and the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme. Her Genome Canada grants have been on genomics and commercialization, and genomics and knowledge translation in health systems. Dr. Einsiedel’s research has been published in a diverse range of journals in the sciences and social sciences including, Nature Biotechnology, Science, Public Understanding of Science, Science Communications, and Science and Engineering Ethics. She served as Editor of the journal Public Understanding of Science and is a former member of the Board of Governors of the Council of Canadian Academies.

Dr. Einsiedel received her PhD from Indiana University in Communication Studies.

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