Claudia D. Faigen, M.A., was named Director of the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) Communications Program on January 1, 2023. In this role, she oversees development and dissemination of outreach materials and other activities, including the ODS website, that are designed to inform and educate the public, health care providers, and scientists about the benefits and risks of dietary supplements. She also serves as the ODS representative to several NIH communications workgroups, including the NIH Press Officers, Science Writers, and Social Media Collaborators Groups.
Ms. Faigen joined ODS as Senior Communications Specialist in January 2017. In this role she served as media relations coordinator for the office and communications advisor to ODS programs and initiatives.
Before joining ODS, Ms. Faigen was a Senior Associate with ICF where she served as an on-site consultant to ODS since 2005. During those years, Ms. Faigen helped transform the ODS website to be more consumer focused, developed and implemented promotion plans for ODS programs and conferences, and assisted in the development of promotional materials including several videos. While in this position, she received the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Green Champion Award for her participation in the NIH Green Initiative in 2015. She also received the NIH Director’s Award for her work on the NIH ODS Vitamin D Standardization Program in 2013.
Before working with ODS, Ms. Faigen was an independent consultant working for other federal agencies and school systems in the Washington, DC, area. Her activities included providing spokesperson and media skills training for attorneys and administrators at the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. She also served as Account Supervisor at Vanguard Communications where she was Project Director and Senior Media Specialist for a national public education/social marketing campaign promoting awareness of children’s mental health issues. Other previous positions include Project Manager for the NIH public education campaign on eye health, Senior Account Executive for the Healthcare division of Hill and Knowlton, Director of Public Relations for The George Washington University Medical Center, and Assistant Director at WUSA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Washington, DC.
Ms. Faigen received her B.A. in communications from Rutgers University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and her M.A. in journalism from the University of Maryland.