As new media and artificial intelligence (AI) transform how individuals acquire, process, and share health information, understanding their influence on health behaviors—and how these technologies can be leveraged for effective health education—has become increasingly urgent. The research conducted in Dr. Yang’s lab addresses this need by advancing theory and empirical evidence on the content, dynamics, and cognitive and behavioral consequences of health information in digital environments.
Dr. Yang’s program of research focuses on the acquisition, processing, and retransmission of health information. Integrating health communication theory with advanced statistical and computational methods, Dr. Yang and her students investigate the complex ecosystem of health information in digital contexts, including health information management, message diffusion, and the roles of social networks and social support in shaping beliefs and behaviors.
Through interdisciplinary collaboration with psychologists, computer scientists, data scientists, and behavioral scientists, the lab conducts research that is theoretically grounded, methodologically rigorous, technologically innovative, and practically impactful.