The CHATR Lab is proud to announce that PhD candidate Emily McKinley and coauthors have been awarded a Best Research Award at the Computational Social Science Escape 2025 conference for their innovative work on using large language models (LLMs) to synthesize human responses in persuasive contexts.

We are proud to announce that Dr. Jingwen Zhang was the inaugural recipient of the Annual Lingnan Award for Excellence in Health Informatics. This distinguished honor was presented by CITRIS Health, a division of CITRIS and the Banatao Institute at the University of California, in partnership with the First Affiliated Hospital at Sun Yat-sen University, China. Dr.

Abstract: 
Objective
This study presents a pilot randomized controlled trial to assess the usability, feasibility, and initial efficacy of a mobile app-based relational artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot (Exerbot) intervention for increasing physical activity behavior.

Abstract: The perception of reality could matter more than reality itself when it comes to disease outbreaks. News media are important sources of information during global disease outbreaks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on theories of fear appeals and the social ecological model, we conducted multilevel modeling analyses to examine how media-level and community-level factors influenced the public’s risk perceptions of COVID-19 and frequencies of preventive behaviors in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and India.

Abstract: Emotionality is a well-established strategy for boosting audience engagement on social media. While fact-checking is positioned to provide objective information, fact-checking posts on social media often involve heightened emotionality. How much emotionality is present and how emotionality influences audience engagement and public sentiment toward fact-checked targets remain largely understudied.

Are you eager to contribute to groundbreaking research with the CHATR Lab? We welcome applicants from all backgrounds—whether you're an advanced computer programmer, statistician, communication scholar, or just beginning your research journey, we have opportunities for you to grow and learn. This is a fantastic chance to engage in cross-disciplinary research and enhance your resume.

Abstract: Fact-checking labels have been widely accepted as an effective misinformation correction method. However, there is limited theoretical understanding of fact-checking labels’ impact. This study theorizes that language intensity influences fact-checking label processing and tests this idea through a multi-method design. We first rely on a large-scale observational dataset of fact-checking labels from 7 U.S.

Congratulations to Emily McKinley on passing her Qualifying Exam and becoming a PhD candidate on May 14th.

Haoning Xue will join the Department of Communication at the University of Utah as an assistant professor in Emerging Media and Innovation in Fall 2024. Haoning uses experimental and computational methods to study digital information integrity and health communication.

Dr. Jingwen Zhang and Ph.D. candidate Haoning Xue received the National Science Foundation (NSF) Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants in Decision, Risk and Management Sciences to support Haoning's dissertation titled "Communicating risks in a sensational media environment - Using short video multimodal features to attract attention and reduce psychological reactance for persuasion."

Below is the project abstract:

The OSU School of Communication’s inaugural computational communication research mini-conference delves into the forefront of communication research as scholars explore using computational methods to tackle measurement challenges and investigate research problems in health, science, and political communication in the digital era. Eight renowned speakers will join the conference from Annenberg School at Upenn, UW-Madison, UT-Austin, UC-Davis, MSU, Weizenbaum Institute, Rogers and Northwestern University.

The first session of "Conversation Series" features "Artificial Intelligence: Possibilities for Health Care and Health Communication." It will take place virtually on Monday, April 22, 2024, from 9 PM to 10:30 PM EST. Discussants include Drs. Pradeep Krishnatrey (Professor, IBS Hyderabad, IFHE (deemed to be) University; Byron Reeves (Professor, Stanford University); Guanxiong Huang(Associate Professor, City University of Hong Kong); Jingwen Zhang (Associate Professor, University of California, Davis).

Dr. Jingwen Zhang received the 2023 K. Everett M. Rogers Award from the American Public Health Association on November 13, 2023 in Atlanta, GA. The American Public Health Association’s K. Everett M. Rogers Award honors contributions to research and practice in public health communication. Dr. Zhang received this award recognizing her pioneer work in developing artificial intelligence chatbots for public health promotion.

A new study titled "Experimental evidence for structured information–sharing networks reducing medical errors" is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Dr. Jingwen Zhang and colleagues shared results from a multi-year study involving nearly 3,000 clinicians across the United States.