Background
My work is motivated by a commitment to building effective and accessible health communication interventions. I am especially interested in elevating diverse youth voices in communication research and practice, including those of my students. Teens and young adults are adept media users and bring unique perspectives on the health communication needs and assets in their communities. Over the past several years, I have led programs that engage high school and college students in identifying health priorities, collecting data, and developing health promotion messages. This “Youth Participatory Action Communication Research” model is informing broader understandings of youth information environments and tailored approaches to promoting mental and physical health.
Education
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health / Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 2023-2025
- PhD, Health Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 2023
- BA, English & Creative Writing, University of Pennsylvania, 2017
Specializations
Health communication; persuasion; media effects; and community-based participatory action research.
Research
My research in health communication examines (1) how media exposure, social identity, and trust shape health behavior, especially among adolescents, and (2) how community-based participatory action research can mitigate health, communication, and research inequities. My work is grounded in theories of behavior change and persuasion, integrates quantitative, mixed-methods, and participatory action research, and spans across topic areas, from anti-tobacco messaging to mental health communication.