Biography:
Maansi Bansal-Travers, PhD currently works as a Research Scientist in the Department of Health Behavior at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. She received her undergraduate degree in Human Nutrition and Food Management from The Ohio State University, and her Masters degree in Epidemiology and Doctorate in Epidemiology and Community Health from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She also serves on the Tobacco Control Advisory Board for the New York State Department of Health.
Dr. Bansal-Travers currently directs the Health Communications Testing Lab, in the Department of Health Behavior, which focuses on testing materials, including cigarette pack design variations, print messages, and television ads, using Web surveys, focus groups, and eye-tracking methodology, to help produce the most salient and effective health communications campaigns. Her research interests include exploring areas of misperceptions held by smokers about cigarette package design, health warning labels, product characteristics, and the health effects of smoking. She also works to design and evaluate materials to correct these misperceptions and promote behavior change.
Current projects that Dr. Bansal-Travers is working on include examining how smokers respond to different point-of-sale displays in the retail environment, as well as evaluating specific design characteristics and health warning labeling on tobacco packaging. She is also actively involved in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, a longitudinal cohort study evaluating knowledge, beliefs and patterns of use of tobacco products among adults and youth in the U.S. Dr. Bansal-Travers also leads a tobacco-focused project, as part of the DSRIP Initiative with the Community Partners of WNY, aimed at decreasing unnecessary hospital admissions among Medicaid clients by promoting tobacco cessation. She also conducts studies to evaluate various media campaigns and materials developed by the New York State Department of Health, the Erie-Niagara Tobacco-Free Coalition, and the New York State Smokers’ Quitline.