Dr. Irina Iles is a researcher at the National Cancer Institute. Prior to this, she served as a senior researcher in the Risk Communication and Resilience Program. Her research falls largely under the areas of risk perception, affect and emotion, and risk and health communication. Dr. Iles uses experimental and survey methodologies to understand the interplay between cognitive and emotional processes in shaping human judgment and decision making in situations involving risk. She uses this insight to design effective health and risk communications that promote protective behaviors. Dr. Iles has authored over 50 journal articles, book chapters, refereed conference papers, and government reports. Her research has been published in outlets such as Risk Analysis, Health Communication, Journal of Health Psychology, American Journal of Health Behavior, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Health and Risk Message Design and Processing, and others. Prior to joining START, Dr. Iles has taught various college courses in communication and research methods and was a research fellow for the Food and Drug Administration Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.