Elsa Larson

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT ELSA LARSON

Applied Behavioral Scientist specializing in public health, complex risk behaviors, and behavior change. Extensive experience across consulting, industry, government, academic medicine, and nonprofit. PhD, MA in Behavioral Science (Experimental Health Psychology) from the Home of The Transtheoretical Model. MS in Pharmacoepidemiology. Board-certified health behavior change coach (NBC-HWC). UXR-certified by NN/g.*My career thesis is that evidence-based interventions for hard-to-change behaviors are necessary, but not always sufficient. I\'ve used behavioral science to move the needle on complex and unsolved public health problems including smoking, HIV, and vaccine uptake. My goal is to make interventions work better for all, retire what no longer works, and disrupt public health inertia with partners who think outside the box.I focus my current consulting work on broad health behaviors and modifiable risk factors to improve individual and population-level health outcomes and reduce chronic disease risk - including physical activity, nutrition, sleep, stress, tobacco/nicotine, cannabis, alcohol, loneliness, quality of life, healthcare, and mental health. We help clients across industries identify new opportunities for products and services that prioritize the consumer experience, reveal the motivators and barriers to behavior change, and optimize human health & well-being.Within the health behavior change space, I\'ve specialized in reducing smoking-related harms among overlooked adults. My work has supported the research, development, and market authorization of oral reduced-risk nicotine products as a harm reduction-informed approach to smoking cessation. I\'ve worked across state-based tobacco control and industry-leading research on what adults need and want to change smoking behavior-through behavioral epidemiology, state and local-level policy evaluation, experimental and observational regulatory research (FDA-PMTA/MRTP), product testing, UXR, sensory, innovation, qualitative, and mixed-method market research. I\'m also a volunteer board-certified health behavior change coach (NBC-HWC), long-distance trail runner, Pilates enthusiast, and work & well-being champion.