Nicole Bodnar, the first DLSPH Director of Communications
January 8/2014
Dear DLSPH Faculty, Students, Staff, Alumni and other stakeholders,
I am extremely pleased to announce a key addition to our administrative leadership team. As of January 20, Nicole Bodnar will come on board full-time as our first Director of Communications. She will play a central role in developing and implementing an integrated communications strategy aimed at building and enhancing the vision, profile and visibility of the DLSPH. Among her responsibilities will be leading the development and production of the School’s publications, including an annual report and marketing materials; driving and overseeing the implementation of the School’s web and social media strategy; creating and editing communications products including publications, marketing materials, online content and media resources; working with many of you to develop resources, experts and stories for media; pitching angles and stories to media and fielding media requests; as well as monitoring and reporting on media coverage and continuously assessing the effectiveness of media outreach.
Ms. Bodnar has great credentials for this role (see her brief biography below) and is already known to many of you through her work on the communications team at the UofT Faculty of Medicine. In that role she worked with several DLSPH faculty on news releases and on the creation of the special fall 2013 issue of U of T Medicine magazine, which contained a major focus on Global Health.
Please welcome Ms. Bodnar in her new role.
Howard Hu, Dean
Nicole Bodnar, Director of Communications, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
A graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University, Nicole completed a bachelor’s degree in Psychology in 2006 and subsequently attended Seneca College’s Corporate Communications Program.
As a member of University Health Network’s (UHN) Public Affairs and Communications team, Nicole led communications initiatives across UHN’s four sites over five years, focusing on media relations by pitching unique story angles about complex research, new clinical treatments and compelling patient stories. She also collaborated with a variety of stakeholders — physicians, administrators, fundraisers, government officials and patients — to create a social media strategy for UHN.
In July 2012, Nicole joined a growing communications team with U of T’s Faculty of Medicine. Liaising with local, national and international media outlets on a daily basis, Nicole identified opportunities to earn the Faculty media coverage using news releases, advisories, fact sheets, op-eds, media events and targeted pitching. She also served as Editor-in-Chief for the fall 2013 issue of U of T Medicine magazine, which featured a global health theme and profiled several Dalla Lana School of Public Health faculty.