Leadership
The ComSHER Leadership Team consists of the Executive Committee, including the Head, Vice Head, Vice Head-Elect, and co-Research Chairs, as well as officers, including the Teaching Chair, PF&R Chair, and Secretary. In addition, the ComSHER division has two primary committees: the
media team and
graduate student committee. The 2022 - 2023 Leadership Team can be found below:
Executive Committee
Head
Timothy Fung
Hong Kong Baptist University
tfung@hkbu.edu.hk
Timothy Fung is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. His research focuses on strategic communication related to health, science, and environmental risks. Specifically, he studies the effect of risk messages and media coverage of health risks.
Vice Head
Matthew VanDyke
University of Alabama
vandyke@apr.ua.edu
Matthew is an associate professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at The University of Alabama. His research investigates processes, effects, and problems associated with the public communication of information about science and environmental risks.
Vice Head-Elect
Jessica Willoughby
Washington State University
jessica.willoughby@wsu.edu
Jessica Willoughby is an associate professor in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University. Her research focuses on health communication, with an emphasis on adolescents and young adults and the use of digital technology and mobile health (mHealth) for health promotion.
Co-Research Chair
Ashley Anderson
Colorado State University
ashley.a.anderson@colostate.edu
Ashley Anderson is an associate professor in Journalism and Media Communication and a member of the Center for Science Communication at Colorado State University. Her research examines the intersection of digital media and public opinion and engagement for scientific and environmental issues.
Co-Research Chair
Kang Namkoong
University of Maryland
namkoong@umd.edu
Kang is an associate professor at the University of Maryland. His research focuses on the interrelationships between emerging media and health communication, with areas of focus including web- and mobile-based eHealth system effects, cancer communications, health promotion, occupational health and safety, and nutrition education.
Officers
Teaching Chair
Sojung (Claire) Kim
George Mason University
skim205@gmu.edu
Sojung (Claire) is an associate professor and a director of the Communication, Health, and Relational Media (CHARM) eye-tracking lab in the Department of Communication at George Mason University. Her research interests broadly lie on intersections of social media, health risk communication, and strategic messaging. Research contexts primarily concern challenging health and environmental issues such as cancer, addiction, vaccination, and climate change.
PF&R Chair
Roma Subramanian
University of Nebraska-Omaha
rsubramanian@unomaha.edu
Roma Subramanian is an assistant professor in the School of Communication at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She is also an affiliate faculty member of the university’s medical humanities program as well as of the Goldstein Center for Human Rights. She earned her doctorate in journalism from the University of Missouri. Her research focuses on health communication, particularly regarding stigmatized disorders/issues (e.g., mental illness, obesity, sexual assault).
Secretary
Shupei Yuan
Northern Illinois University
syuan@niu.edu
Shupei Yuan is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at Northern Illinois University. Her research focuses on the support and factors that influence science communicators' engagement with the public, as well as the effects of strategic communication styles in the context of risk, science, and health communication.