Brian A. Primack

Brian A. Primack (born April 22, 1969) is a higher education administrator and medical researcher with expertise in interrelationships among media, technology, and health. He is dean of the College of Education and Health Professions and holder of the Henry G. Hotz Endowed Chair at the University of Arkansas. He is also a full professor of public health with tenure at the University of Arkansas and a professor of internal medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Primack earned a B.A. in English and mathematics from Yale University (1991), an Ed.M. in education, human development, and psychology from Harvard University (1993), an M.D. from Emory University (1999), and a Ph.D. in clinical and translational science from the University of Pittsburgh (2011).

University of Pittsburgh

After completing medical residency in family medicine at the UPMC St. Margaret in 2002, Primack joined the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. In 2014, he became assistant vice chancellor for research on health and society and founding director of the Center for Research on Media, Technology and Health. He was promoted to full professor of medicine with tenure and secondary appointments in pediatrics and clinical and translational science in 2016.

In 2017, he was named the third dean of the University of Pittsburgh Honors College, where he also held the Bernice L. and Morton S. Lerner Endowed Chair.

University of Arkansas

In 2019, the University of Arkansas named Primack the dean of its College of Education and Health Professions, the second-largest college at the university. He is holder of the Henry G. Hotz Endowed Chair and professor of public health with tenure. He was also awarded a conjoint appointment as a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Research and scholarship

Primack's research has focused on interrelationships between media, technology, and health, both physical and mental. His research into alternative tobacco and nicotine products such as hookahs and electronic nicotine delivery systems has heightened public knowledge and influenced policy measures. He has also studied social media and mental health outcomes including depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Other areas of study include racial disparities in tobacco marketing, relationships between media use and health behaviors, and leveraging innovations in media literacy education to improve health education. He has also spoken at TEDMED about video games and health behavior change.

The Society of Adolescent Health and Medicine honored him with the Charles E. Irwin New Investigator Award in 2006, and the Society of Behavioral Medicine honored him with its Early Career Investigator Award in 2010. His 2017 publication on social media and social isolation was named the American Journal of Preventive Medicine's most impactful article of the year. He was elected into the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2019.