Charlene Caburnay’s broad research interests encompass technology-based communication programs, health media interventions, health communication, childhood and adult immunization and community-level chronic disease interventions.

For over two decades, Caburnay was at the forefront of designing, developing, and evaluating health communication programs at the Health Communication Research Laboratory, directly addressing critical public health issues such as cancer, diabetes, COVID-19, childhood immunization and chronic diseases. She created communications aimed at a variety of audiences, including smokers, families at inner-city public health centers, and readers of Black newspapers, underscoring the importance of tailored health communication in improving public health outcomes. In 2014, Caburnay expanded into social entrepreneurship and commercialization efforts by starting a WashU spinoff company, Health Communication Impact, that aims to increase the dissemination, impact, and sustainability of research-tested interventions.

Charlene Caburnay is the School of Public Health’s inaugural director of master’s programs. Further, she is part of the team leading the school in its curriculum redesign process. She teaches Health Behavior and Health Promotion and is the Faculty Lead for the Capstone I and Capstone II courses, which all MPH students take in their final two semesters of the program.