Dr. Mary Harris
President & CEO, BioTechnical Communications & Executive Producer “Journey to Wellness”
BioTechnical Communications, Inc. (BTC) was founded by Mary S. Harris, Ph.D., who currently serves as President and CEO. Dr. Harris has over 30 years of experience in the areas of biology and health care. Dr. Harris received her Ph.D. in molecular genetics from Cornell University, and completed post-doctoral training in molecular virology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Dr. Harris has spent most of her professional career involved in the application and transfer of basic research to the health care field. Her professional experience includes graduate and medical school teaching; publications in scientific and medical journals; director of a statewide genetics screening program; membership on NIH grant review committees; Executive Producer and Host of nationally syndicated radio program; and serving as a consultant with private research laboratories and health care organizations.
Dr. Harris has a long-standing interest in preventive health care and health disparities. Her involvement includes work at the national level to develop national guidelines for the implementation of newborn screening for sickle cell disease; board member of the Atlanta chapter of the March of Dimes to help address the issue of the high incidence of African-American infant mortality; volunteer work with low-income African-American teenage girls to help reduce teenage pregnancy; volunteer work with Emory University Medical School and the problem of triple negative breast cancer among African-American women.
With support from the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Harris created Journey To Wellness—the only nationally syndicated radio program to focus on health care issues of importance to African-Americans. From 2001-2005, Dr. Harris served as Host and Executive Producer of the syndicated radio program. The show was carried by 40 public radio stations, and heard in over 50 media markets throughout the country. During that time, Dr. Harris was also Executive Producer and Host of the weekly CNN Radio feature, Journey to Wellness, distributed to over 2000 CNN radio affiliates. She also authored a nationally syndicated newspaper column, Journey To Wellness that was carried by 27 African-American newspapers. Dr. Harris was also Executive Producer of the statewide (Georgia) radio program—Lifeline to Health—which addressed health issues that affect Georgia’s minority population. In 2006, Journey To Wellness became a feature of Radio One and is currently heard in 25 media markets. Dr. Harris currently syndicates an e-health column, Reflections on the Journey. In January, 2009, Dr. Harris Executive Produced “Keeping Up With the Walkers,” a health-based serial radio program and webisode targeting African-Americans.
Dr. Harris has received numerous honors for her work. Dr. Harris received the Profiles in Progress Award as Executive Producer for the video entitled To My Sisters, A Gift For Life—a documentary about breast cancer and African-American women. In January, 1998, Dr. Harris was honored by the Women's Auxiliary of the National Baptist Convention for her work in educating African-American women about breast cancer. On May 9, 2000 she was elected into the YWCA Academy of Women Achievers. On May 23,2001 and again on May 21, 2002, Dr. Harris’s program,
Journey To Wellness, was awarded 1st place in the Atlanta Medical Association’s medical broadcast competition (in 2001, AIDS & African-American Women”; in 2002, “Suicide in the African-American Community”). In August, 2004, US Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine honored Dr. Harris as on the “50 Most Important Blacks in Research Science.” She is profiled in the book, Distinguished African-American Scientists of the 20th Century and on the Web Site, Faces of Science: African-Americans in the Sciences. In November, 2004, Grady Health System awarded Dr. Harris the Sickle Cell Pioneer Award for her outstanding work to improve the care of sickle cell anemia patients. In September, 2006, Dr. Harris’ company—BioTechnical Communications--was recently awarded their twelfth grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a national health information communications network for African-Americans based on the findings of her NIH funded research.
The information network, known as the Journey to Wellness Community Health Communications Network (CHCN) integrates public radio, commercial radio, with the Internet and community outreach initiatives. These components work synergistically to inform, educate, and influence positive health behaviors of minority audiences. In August, 2007, Dr. Harris was Executive Producer of series of documentaries for broadcast on public radio on health issues affecting African-Americans. On October, 2008, Dr. Harris was awarded Wellstar Corporation’s prestigious “Everyday Super Heroes Award” for her work and achievements in the area of women’s health. Her company’s most recent award was granted in May, 2008 by the National Institutes of Health to develop a health based serial radio drama—a successful initiative that has been nationally syndicated.
Dr. Harris has served on the CDC Foundation Board of Visitors, the Board of Families First, and on the Grady Health System Board of Visitors in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Harris is a member of the Georgia Women's Forum and of the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2000. Her business, BioTechnical Communications, Inc. was selected by Georgia Trend Magazine as one of Georgia's outstanding Businesses in 1999. Dr. Harris was a featured speaker on the topic of how to market healthcare services to minority women for Working Woman Magazine’s October, 2000 conference, Marketing Healthcare To Minority Women.
