Projects

Narrative Persuasion

This project seeks to identify why narrative messages are persuasive and what narrative features influence health-related beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. I wrote my first graduate seminar proposal in this area, and I have been fascinated by narrative persuasion since then. 

Immersive Narratives

Building on my work on narrative persuasion, I began studying immersive narratives in my dissertation. This project seeks to determine the impact of immersive media (e.g., virtual reality [VR], 360-degree videos) on narrative influence in health and prosocial contexts. 

Narrative Pictorial Warning Labels 

A picture is worth a thousand words. Can an image tell a compelling story or at least prompt people to tell themselves a story about the image? Supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, this project aims to evaluate the impact of pictorial warning labels featuring narrative content. 

Narrative (Mis)Information on Social Media

Social media is a popular platform for disseminating scientific health information and spreading health-related misinformation. Using natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning, this project seeks to identify the features and impacts of narrative (mis)information on social media and develop narrative misinformation mitigation strategies. 

Alcohol and Cancer Communication 

Alcohol consumption is a major preventable risk factor for cancer, but not many people are aware of the risk. This project aims to develop evidence-based communication strategies to raise awareness and reduce overall consumption. 

Health Disparities and Health Equity

I conduct community-based research to address the significant ethnic and racial disparities in tobacco and alcohol use. With a focus on informing policy and regulation to reduce tobacco- and alcohol-related disparities, this project develops and tests effective messages to prevent tobacco and alcohol use and the impact of related diseases.

Pandemic Public Health Messaging

At a time of public health crisis, health communication plays a critical role in influencing beliefs and behaviors. This project aims to identify effective message strategies to promote risk-reduction behaviors and address stigmatization amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Self Affirmation

I became interested in self-affirmation theory while working as a graduate research assistant for a National Cancer Institute-funded project. This project seeks to identify whether and how self-affirmation reduces defensive reactions to tobacco pictorial warning labels. 

Past Projects

• Media coverage of mental illnesses 

• Parental influence on teenagers' food consumption 

• Social identity threat in health messaging