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Kellie E. Palazzolo , Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor
Research interests: health communication, public health and interpersonal communication
My research focuses on the design, implementation, and evaluation of health communication campaigns, as well as the communicative risk and protective factors associated with the health issue under investigation. My current lines of research focus on media framing of health issues such as intimate partner violence, communication skills of volunteers in crisis centers and shelters, and the relationship between parent-child communication and the adult child’s involvement in dating violence. 

Pauline Cheong, Ph.D., associate professor
Research interests: health communication, communication technologies, social disparities and access

Olga I. Davis, Ph.D., associate professor
Research interests: health disparities, critical performance studies

Kory Floyd, Ph.D., professor
Research interests: physiology, affection, family communication and nonverbal communication
Professor Floyd's research focuses on the communication of affection in personal relationships, and on the interplay between communication, physiology and health. He has studied affectionate communication in a host of family relationships, as well as between romantic partners, friends, and even new acquaintances. His work in the Communication Sciences Laboratory demonstrates how affectionate behavior can alter stress hormones, lower blood sugar, reduce cholesterol and improve immune system parameters.  His current project, funded by the National Institutes of Health, investigates the role of oxytocin in the stress-alleviating effects of affectionate communication.

Linda C. Lederman, Ph.D., professor and dean
Division of Social Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Research interests: health communication and instructional communication
Prof. Lederman's research focuses on the relationship among the domains of human interaction, experiential learning and various health issues, including, alcohol and other drugs, tobacco, domestic violence and leadership and change in organizational life. Her work has been funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Education Safe and Drug Free School Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the U.S. Department of Justice, the N.J. Consortium and the U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education (FIPSE). Professor Lederman's book, "Changing the Culture of College Drinking" (with Lea Stewart), is the first scholarly text addressing the role of communication and experimental learning in alcohol use and abuse on the college campus.

Anthony J. Roberto, Ph.D., associate professor
Research interests: health communication campaigns, persuasion and interpersonal communication