Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences

Overview

A. Rani Elwy is a health psychologist, health services researcher and an implementation scientist and Founding Director of the Brown Research on Implementation and Dissemination to Guide Evidence Use (BRIDGE) Program. Dr. Elwy examines patients’ access to and uptake of mental health care; the effectiveness and implementation of complementary and integrative health services for treating mental health disorders and pain; and crisis and risk communication between patients, families, providers and health systems. Dr. Elwy built a healthcare system-wide Disclosure Support Program, to increase transparent and open communication in health care, based on evidence-based communication practices. She has also led improvement science initiatives to create vaccine acceptance communication strategies.

Dr. Elwy is a Class of 2024 Presidential Leadership Scholar, a program that brings together bold and principled leaders who are committed to facing critical challenges, both at home and around the world, and who are interested in exploring lessons learned during the administrations of George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Lyndon B. Johnson.

From September 2024 through August 2025, Dr. Elwy is serving as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow at the National Academy of Medicine. The HPF progam seeks to build and maintain strong and diverse leadership and a workforce skilled in health policy. Fellows have the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with key players in federal health policy and use that leadership experience to improve health, health care, and health policy.

Dr. Elwy is an elected Fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, and the recipient of a VA Research Career Scientist Award.

Brown Affiliations

Research Areas

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