As Principal Investigator of a study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Dr. Ortiz examines the use of frames in direct-to-consumer-advertising targeting children and adolescents. She is also examining how frames in news media influence public deliberation regarding government intervention in online media forums. A related project for which she is co-Principal Investigator focuses on media and public understandings of the preventive service coverage provision contained in the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Grants and Research Projects:

Broadly, Dr. Ortiz’s research examines the determinants of population health policy formation, including problem recognition, the formulation of policy proposals, and politics. Specifically, Dr. Ortiz uses mixed methods to examine how cognitive frames and values influence policy agenda setting, public deliberation, and individual health care decision-making.

Dr. Ortiz’s research has been published in Medical Care (in press), American Journal of Public Health, Journal of Preventive Medicine, and Public Health Reports. She currently serves on the advisory committee of the Nation’s Health, the official publication of the American Public Health Association.