Brief Biography

Marie Rienzo, M.A. joined the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) as the Communications Director in January 2024. Marie leads the development, design, dissemination, and evaluation of communication initiatives and projects to advance OBSSR’s mission and amplify the impact of health-related behavioral and social sciences research.

Before joining OBSSR, Marie served as a health communications specialist at the National Institute of Mental Health where she focused on effectively communicating research findings, health information, funding announcements, and training opportunities to diverse audiences. Prior to that, Marie worked as a writer-editor for the Office of Disease Prevention, where she played a pivotal role in crafting highly impactful content and outreach strategies to communicate the importance and value of prevention research. Marie also served as a writer-editor for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, contributing to the development of patient education materials and overseeing social media efforts.

Marie holds a master’s degree in communications from Michigan State University.