The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has awarded Professor of Communication Itzhak Yanovitzky the New Jersey Phil Lubitz Award for Advocacy. The award, NAMI wrote, “recognizes an individual for outstanding and devoted advocacy efforts to improve the lives of people affected by mental illness.”
“This award is particularly meaningful to me because it highlights the importance and impact of engaged scholarship beyond academia, and also because it honors Phil Lubitz, the retired Associate Director of Policy Advocacy at NAMI New Jersey for 28 years,” Yanovitzky said. “He helped me form a more complete and nuanced understanding of policy advocacy that goes well beyond academic knowledge. I am grateful for my continued partnership with NAMI NJ and am truly humbled by this award.”
Presenting the award, NAMI NJ Advocacy and Public Policy Director Matthew Camarda cited Yanovitzky’s partnership with NAMI NJ, which has spanned more than 15 years, using research evidence to advocate for and guide mental health policy in the state of New Jersey and nationally.
These research collaborations include Project ASPEN, which advances policy for implementing evidence-based screening for adolescent depression; Yanovitzky's continued service on on NAMI NJ’s Public Policy Committee, and his work building NAMI NJ’s data so it can be used by policymakers and advocacy leaders.
The award ceremony took place during the NAMI NJ Annual Conference, “Healing, Hope, and Action: Advancing Mental Health Together,” held on June 12 and 13, 2026. In addition to receiving the award, Yanovitzky also delivered a one-hour workshop at the conference, sharing his research on proven strategies for promoting evidence-based mental health policies.
Yanovitzky’s long-term collaboration with NAMI NJ also extends to the SC&I classroom, enriching the learning experiences of SC&I undergraduate and graduate students.
These classroom experiences translate into real-world results. For example, after taking Yanovitzky’s class, SC&I doctoral student Jenny Mai started collaborating on a research project with Maggie Luo, Chief Communications Officer of NAMI NJ, who earned a Master of Communication and Information Studies degree (now named the Master of Communication and Media) from SC&I. Mai’s work was also recognized at the conference for her contributions to NAMI NJ’s multicultural outreach.
Yanovitzky is an expert in the areas of behavior change communication, public policymaking, translational research, and program evaluation. His mixed-methods program of research explores effective mechanisms for facilitating the use of evidence in policy and practice and building the capacity of systems and communities to apply communication strategies and tools to promote population health. Yanovitzky has extensive experience partnering with collaborators across academic disciplines and sectors to address a range of public health problems, including recent efforts to address the opioid epidemic and the rising toll of youth depression and suicide.
