Master of Arts in Health and Risk Communication

Dr. Maria Lapinski is joint-appointed as a Professor in the Department of Communication and Michigan Ag-Bio Research at Michigan State University (MSU).

Ralf Schmälzle, Ph.D. (SHMAL-ts-lee, 拉尔夫·舍马尔兹勒) is an Associate Professor of Communication Science in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University. His research focuses on brain responses to real-life messages in the domains of health communication and entertainment media. He is cross-trained in communication and psychology, and integrates methods from cognitive neuroscience and AI.

Dr. Holtz's  research explores the adoption, perceptions, and outcomes of telemedicine, mobile phone health apps (mhealth), consumer grade sensors (i.e., Fitbit, Apple Watch, etc.), electronic medical records, AI, and social media for health topics.

Fashina (Shina) Aladé is an Assistant Professor of Advertising & Public Relations, and also holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies. Her work lies at the intersection of media effects, developmental psychology, and early childhood education, with a focus on young children’s comprehension of and learning from educational media.

Dr. Monique Mitchell Turner is Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication at Michigan State University. Prior to this appointment, she served as Associate Dean of MPH programs at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University.

Bruno Takahashi is a professor of environmental journalism and communication at Michigan State University with a joint appointment in the School of Journalism and AgBioResearch.

Professor Thorson joined the College of Communication Arts faculty at MSU in fall, 2016. Prior, she was Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, and Research Director of the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism.  Thorson holds the Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Minnesota, and attended undergraduate school at Macalester College.

Dr. Hyesun Choung is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at MSU. Before taking her current position, she served as a postdoctoral research associate in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. Dr. Choung studies the implications of emerging technologies for human behavior and psychology.

Wei Peng is a Professor in the Department of Media and Information, Michigan State University. She is affiliated with the Games for Entertainment and Learning (GEL) lab and the Health and Risk Communication Center.

I earned a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from the University of British Columbia, Canada. Beginning from my master’s thesis, I published in premier journals, including MIS Quarterly, ISR, Communications of the ACM, and ACM Transactions on CHI, which are cited over 1,700 times (as of August 2022, Google Scholar).

Jim Dearing (Ph.D., University of Southern California) is the Brandt Endowed Professor in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University.

Sandi W. Smith is a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University.

Dr. Yoo Jung (Erika) Oh (Ph.D. University of California, Davis) specializes in artificial intelligence (AI) dialogue systems, commonly referred to as "AI chatbots." With an interest in the dynamics of human-AI communication, her research investigates the impact of persuasive AI on human perceptions and behaviors.

Susan McFarlane-Alvarez (PhD, Georgia State University) is a Professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Michigan State University. With nearly three decades of experience spanning academia and the professional advertising and PR industries, Susan has worked as a creative director in Hernandez/Foote, Cone & Belding, then as an independent consultant.