Bio

Christopher L. Cummings, PhD, is a behavioral theorist and social science researcher specializing in risk perception, public engagement, and the governance of emerging technologies. He leads the Center for Health Engineering at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, where he integrates behavioral science with engineering, risk analysis, and public health systems. At North Carolina State University, he is a Senior Research Fellow with the Genetic Engineering and Society Center and a Research Social Scientist with the NSF-funded Precision Microbiome Engineering Research Center, where he examines the societal and governance dimensions of biotechnology. Dr. Cummings has directed multiple NATO Advanced Research Workshops addressing biotechnology convergence, risk governance, standardization, and defense resilience. He also served on a National Academies committee reviewing environmental, biosafety, and biosecurity considerations for synthetic cell research. Author of more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and Secondary Risk Theory, his work connects technical risk assessment with public values, trust, policy acceptance, and strategic communication.

Awards

• 2019: Distinguished Alumni Award; Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media PhD Program, North Carolina State University
• 2017: Nanyang Education Award; Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Area(s) of Expertise

- Social science
- Risk communication
- Public engagement
- Health communication

Publications

• Public perceptions and support for microbiome engineering to combat mold growth in disaster relief efforts , Environment Systems & Decisions (2026)
• Beyond the Hype: Stakeholder Perceptions of Nanotechnology and Genetic Engineering for Sustainable Food Production , Sustainability (2025)
• Public perceptions and support for introduced microbes to combat hospital-acquired infections and antimicrobial resistance , PLoS ONE (2025)
• Modeling prevention behaviors during the COVID‐19 pandemic using Bayesian belief networks and protection motivation theory , Risk Analysis (2024)
• Equitable Response in Crisis: Methodology and Application for COVID-19 , ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems Part B Mechanical Engineering (2023)
• Exposure to climate change information predicts public support for solar geoengineering in Singapore and the United States , Scientific Reports (2023)
• Gene‐Edited Food Adoption Intentions and Institutional Trust in the United States: Benefits, Acceptance, and Labeling ☆ , Rural Sociology (2023)
• Governing biotechnology to provide safety and security and address ethical, legal, and social implications , Frontiers in Genetics (2023)
• Identifying sustainability assessment parameters for genetically engineered agrifoods , Plants People Planet (2023)
• Peptide ligands for the affinity purification of adeno‐associated viruses from HEK 293 cell lysates , Biotechnology and Bioengineering (2023)