As Deputy Director of the Center for Health Communication, Mr. Bender leads a portfolio of projects, including immunization, pandemic preparedness, and reproductive health. He provides senior counsel and management oversight for three national campaigns funded by the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. The largest of these campaigns is the advertising and public relations support for CDC’s annual influenza campaign. Over the project's three years of implementation, AED has provided support in the areas of national public relations; video, radio, print, and online product development; strategic partnership development; and paid media placements. Mr. Bender also leads a national effort to promote pandemic influenza planning among consumers for the office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As well, he directs a project to develop and implement the Infertility Prevention Campaign out of the Division of STD Prevention at CDC.

Mr. Bender was the project manager for AED’s work on CDC’s Racial and Ethnic Adult Disparities in Immunization Initiative (READII). Over three years, AED provided support to five state and local health departments designing and implementing adult immunization initiatives. He oversaw the delivery of expert guidance and training in a wide variety of areas, including planning and developing community-based programs; strengthening cultural competencies into program activities; developing and maintaining relationships with community-based organizations, health providers, and other stakeholders; and conducting program evaluation. As a part of this project, AED also proposed and developed a national campaign to reach out to medical providers to update them on the latest vaccination schedules and encourage them to increase their vaccination efforts to minority patients.

In the AED Center for Health Communication, Mr. Bender is part of the senior management team, which has overseen the expansion from four to 32 staff members in seven years, and the development of in-house capacity for market research, public relations, Spanish translation, and adaptation and use of interactive technology. 

Mr. Bender is a Certified Heath Education Specialist, and holds a master's degree in health sciences from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health.