Vinita Agarwal

Bio

Vinita Agarwal is full professor of communication in the Department of Communication at Salisbury University, Maryland and a Certified Health and Well-Being Coach (from Duke Health). She is the author of Health Communication as Social Justice: A Whole Person Activist Approach (Routledge, 2024) and the monograph, Medical Humanism, Chronic Illness, and the Body in Pain: An Ecology of Wholeness (Lexington Press, 2020). Her work has been published in Frontiers in Pain Research, Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, Health Communication, Journal of Patient Experience, Qualitative Health Research, Frontiers in Communication, Journal of Applied Communication Research, and Journal of Advanced Nursing, among other outlets. She has contributed to the International Encyclopedia of Health Communication (on Ayurveda and Yoga) and written several book chapters in outlets such as the SAGE Handbook of Medicine and Health. Her work has been presented in top paper panels at the National Communication Association (NCA), Eastern Communication Association, and Central States Communication Associations. She has over 60 solo-authored, competitively selected presentations in national and international conferences including the International Congress for Integrative Medicine and Health and the International Association of Yoga Therapy and is the recipient of the Fulton Award for Excellence in Scholarship and the University System of Maryland Women’s Health Foundation Award. Her course offerings include Health Communication, Health Engagement & Advocacy, Health Behavior Change, International Public Relations, and Digital Public Relations. Her service includes leadership positions at NCA serving as past chair of the Teaching and Learning Council and Executive Committee member, as past chair of the Feminist and Gender Studies Division, and at SU as a member of the Health Humanities Faculty Learning Committee. She is a Vipassana meditator (from Dhamma Giri, Nasik, India) and the founder and owner of Whole Person Health Consulting, LLC (https://wholepersonhealthconsulting.com). She enjoys spending time with her husband, Sangeet and playing with and homeschooling her Belgian Malinois pup, Appa. She is also learning pottery at SU's Ceramic Studio and exploring movement, space, and earth through the medium of clay, water, and fire.