Dr. Xiaoli Nan is a social scientist studying health and risk communication. Specifically, her research investigates how to effectively communicate health risks (including environmental risks that pose significant health threat) to the general public and under-served populations to promote behavior change and informed decision making. Dr. Nan’s research addresses the basic processes of human judgment and decision making related to health risks and the implications of these processes for effective risk communication via traditional and emerging communication channels (e.g., social media, mobile communication, virtual reality). Dr. Nan’s work prioritizes several health domains including cancer control, vaccination, food safety and nutrition, and climate change. At Maryland, Dr. Nan teaches courses on health and risk communication, persuasion and attitude change, media effects, and quantitative research methods. Dr. Nan has published extensively in her areas of specialization and has received research funding as PI or Co-PI from sources such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), and the Food and Drug Administration, totaling over $5.5 million. For more information about Dr. Xiaoli Nan, visit www.xiaolinan.com.
Contact: nan@umd.edu