Curriculum Vitae

A summary of education, honors, funding, research experience, service, and skills is below. The complete CV — with full publications, presentations, and grants — is available as a downloadable PDF (updated May 2026).

Education

• 2027Expected
  Ph.D. in Communication (STEM) University of California, Santa Barbara. Areas of focus: health communication, persuasion, computational and experimental methods. Dissertation: Multimodal Emotional Appeals in Anti-Vaping Videos: A Computational Approach to Fear–Hope Flow and Message Effectiveness. Committee: Dr. Jiaying Liu (Chair), Dr. Robin Nabi, Dr. Yingdan Lu (Northwestern).
• 2019Dec
  M.A. in Communication Management University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
• 2017Jun
  B.A. (Hons), International Communications Studies with German The University of Nottingham Ningbo China. Exchange year: The University of Nottingham, UK (2015–16).

Honors, Awards & Scholarships

• 2026Nov
  Top Student Paper Award, Communication and the Future DivisionNCA 112th Annual Convention. Paper: Rethinking Emotion in Communication Research: A Four-Level Framework and Computational Measurement Guide (solo-authored).
• 2026Nov
  Top Student Paper Award, Communication and Social Cognition DivisionNCA 112th Annual Convention. Paper: Pride-Anger and Beyond: Mixed Emotion Specificity in Online Media Engagement (co-first author with Ismail, I.).
• 2026Fall
  Dissertation FellowshipDepartment of Communication, UCSB. One-quarter fellowship with full release from teaching duties to support dissertation completion.
• 2026Aug
  Student Research AwardMass Communication and Society Division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) — $2,500. Project: Generative AI for Scalable Health Message Tailoring: Differential Persuasive Effects across Socioeconomic and Value-Based Subgroups.
• 2026Jun
  Social Impact AwardDepartment of Communication, UCSB — $2,000.
• 2017
  Zhejiang Provincial Outstanding GraduatesMinistry of Education.
• 2016
  Zhejiang Provincial ScholarshipMinistry of Education — RMB 12,000.
• 2014–16
  Best Student of the Year (Top 1, two consecutive years)University of Nottingham — RMB 30,000.
• 2014–16
  President's Scholarship (two consecutive years)University of Nottingham — RMB 30,000.
• 2013–14
  Dean's Scholarship (Top 10%)University of Nottingham — RMB 6,000.

Funding

Internal Funding

• 2026
  Center for AI and Society Grant UCSB — $8,000. Graduate Research Assistant (PI: Prof. Jiaying Liu).
• 2025Aug
  Social Science Research Grant Program (SSRGP) UCSB ISBER — $7,600. Graduate Research Assistant (PI: Prof. Jiaying Liu).
• 2025Aug
  Individualized Professional Skills (IPS) Grant Program UCSB Graduate Division — $1,200.
• 2025Feb
  Graduate Research Funding Department of Communication, UCSB — $500.
• 2019
  CKIDS DataFest Research Funding USC Viterbi School of Engineering — $3,600.

External Funding

• 2025
  TRDRP Predoctoral Fellowship Award Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, University of California Office of the President — $181,539 (proposed). Project: Emotion-Driven Persuasion in Anti-Vaping Campaigns: A Computational and Experimental Approach. Role: Principal Investigator (Graduate Student). Shortlisted; full application submitted; not funded.

Research Experience

• 2024Mar–Present
  Communication, Health, and Emerging Media (CHARM) Lab Department of Communication, UC Santa Barbara. Advisor: Prof. Jiaying Liu. Research on experimental methods, neurophysiological tools (fMRI), and psychophysiological measures (eye-tracking). Graduate Research Fellow on: • Project Leader, Eye-tracking & Discrete Choice Experiment — Behavioral intervention to mitigate nicotine addiction in digital environments (R01CA289552; NIH NCI & FDA CTP). PI: Prof. Lucy Popova (GSU); Co-I: Prof. Jiaying Liu. UCSB subaward total cost: $357,333. • Lead Data Analyst, Computational & AI-Assisted Analysis of Message Effects — Neuroimaging approaches to improve prediction of smoking initiation and nicotine use escalation among young adult ENDS users (K01DA049292; NIH/NIDA & FDA CTP). PI: Prof. Jiaying Liu. Total: $1,305,218. • Graduate Student Project Leader — Scaling socioeconomic and value-based personalization in health messaging: A thin-AI approach to advancing communication equity (Health Communities Project, ISBER, UCSB). PI: Prof. Jiaying Liu. Total: $7,600.
• 2023Mar–Present
  Computational Multi-Modal Communication (CMMC) Lab Cross-institutional. PIs: Prof. Cuihua Shen, Prof. Yilang Peng, Prof. Yingdan Lu. Led and participated in computational research using Python/R. • Project Leader, misinformation potential of photorealistic AI-generated images — Understanding How Visual Features of Misinformation Influence Credibility Perceptions (CNS-2150716; NSF). Total: $500,000.
• 2024Oct–Present
  Computational Media and Politics (COMAP) Lab School of Communication, Northwestern University. PI: Prof. Yingdan Lu.
• 2019–20
  Game Studies Research Group & CKIDS DataFest Annenberg School of Communication & Viterbi School of Engineering, USC. PI: Prof. Dmitri Williams.

Selected Workshops

• 2025Aug
  Summer Institute in Computational Social Science (SICSS-Stanford) Stanford University; IPS funding ($1,200).

Professional Affiliations

International Communication Association (ICA) · National Communication Association (NCA) · Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) · Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) · NIH/FDA CTP-Funded Tobacco Regulatory Science (TRS) Research Community (Trainee).

Academic Service

Reviewer

Journals: BMC Public Health · Health Communication · Journal of Health Communication · International Journal of Communication.

Conferences: International Communication Association (Health Communication Division, Computational Methods Division) · National Communication Association · International Conference on Computational Social Science (IC²S²) · Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS).

Department & University Service

• 2026May
  Panelist, IPS Meet & Eat (Whole PhD 2026 Series)Professional Development, UCSB Graduate Division.
• 2025Fall
  Grad Buddy MentorDepartment of Communication, UCSB.
• 2024Sep
  Panelist, COMM Jumpstart 2024Department of Communication, UCSB.

Skills

Programming & Statistics

Methods

Software

Languages

Certificates

Work Experience

• 2020–23
  Brand & Marketing Manager, NorthKing Information Technology Co. Ltd. Beijing, China. Led integrated brand strategy and corporate communications for a financial-IT services firm serving major banks; designed B2B campaigns spanning earned, owned, and paid media. Directed market and user-experience (UX) research; translated audience insights into messaging, positioning, and public-relations strategy. Managed client and stakeholder relationships, social media presence, and event programming, including industry conferences and executive forums. Recognized as Outstanding Employee of the Year for measurable contributions to brand visibility.
• 2018–19
  Video Editor, USC Games. Los Angeles, CA. Produced and edited video content supporting USC Games programming and showcases.
• 2018
  Branded Entertainment Intern, SEGA Stories International. Los Angeles, CA. Conducted brand and audience research to inform strategic communication and creative-development decisions. Supported cross-stakeholder coordination and industry events; reviewed and provided coverage on creative submissions for brand and audience fit.
• 2018
  Marketing & PR Specialist, Los Angeles Chinese Film Festival. Los Angeles, CA. Designed and executed integrated marketing and public-relations campaigns across social media, content production, and earned media. Produced editorial and interview content amplifying festival programming and partnerships.
• 2016
  Intern Program Producer, CCTV Weihai Movie & TV Base, Beijing Office. Beijing, China. Supported pre-production for the talent show Heroes from Youngsters.
• 2016
  Intern Editor, SINA Education Channel. Beijing, China. Managed social media marketing, live broadcast show planning, and online reporting. Received a 10% salary raise for outstanding performance.

For the complete record — including all publications, presentations, and research experience — please see the full CV (PDF).