Ewing, NJ: TCNJ professors and students demonstrated the strength of the health communication specializations in the Depts. of Communication, Journalism, and Film (CJF) and Public Health (PH) at the biannual DC Health Communication Conference hosted by George Mason University May 1-3 in Herndon, VA. Both professors Dr. Yachao “Bruce” Li and Dr. John C. Pollock, each with shared appointments in Communication, Journalism, and Film and Public Health, participated in multiple panels and poster sessions, as did ten students from TCNJ, who presented a total of 14 papers or posters.
Dr. Li made two presentations. “Pathways from Sexual Stigma to Mpox Preventive Intentions” investigated how different types of stigma affected gay and bisexual men’s intentions to take preventive measures against mpox during the 2022 outbreak in the United States. A survey of 439 gay and bisexual men and found that certain forms of experienced stigma — specifically how individuals perceive and internalize negative societal attitudes — paradoxically “strengthened” their intentions to take protective health measures.
A second study by Dr. Li, “#Party&Play: How Exposure to “Chemsex” Content on Popular Gay Dating App Normalizes and Encourages Drug Use,” revealed how content on dating apps may shape attitudes and behaviors around the intentional use of drugs during sexual encounters, known as “chemsex,” among gay and bisexual men. A survey of 293 U.S. gay and bisexual men found that by changing users’ perceptions of social norms and attitudes about chemsex, simply seeing chemsex-related content directly influenced “intentions” to participate in chemsex, even without changing users’ attitudes or beliefs about the behavior.
The other TCNJ professor attending the DC Health Communication Conference, Dr. John C. Pollock, mentored 14 papers or posters with a combined co-authorship of 45 students from both Communication, Journalism, and Film and Public Health on a variety of topics. Comparing coverage among major US cities, students explored topics such as abortion access, climate change, disability accommodation, homelessness, obesity, and opioid use. Comparing coverage among nations across the world, students examined abortion access as well as conflict zone migration, drug trafficking, human trafficking, male contraception, men’s mental health, pandemic mental health, and sexual violence.
TCNJ student papers “provide renewed hope for our health communication discipline and our world” according to Dr. Anne Nicotera, professor and organizer of the national biannual DC Health Communication Conference, adding “to see this caliber of work produced by undergraduate students is rare and exceedingly gratifying.” Praising the quality of a record-breaking 14 student papers accepted for presentation, all selected in blind, refereed competition, Nicotera marveled that TCNJ undergraduate presentations often meet or exceed professional standards expected of PhD candidates.
The “Top Undergraduate Student-Led Abstract Award” for the entire conference went to a TCNJ paper presented by senior author Theresa “Tess” Leighton ‘25 (co-authored with Blen Tesfahun ‘27, Samantha Matson ’27 , and Roman Fabbricatore ’25) on cross-national coverage of migration from conflict zones. At the closing awards ceremony, conference organizer Nicotera hailed the TCNJ paper as among the “top 20” among all 280 submissions to the conference, including papers from graduate students and professors throughout the world.
The award-winning paper compared media coverage among 23 countries, finding that larger populations “buffered” from economic uncertainty in a country (with higher proportions of national resources such as natural gas, coal, and electricity production; length of road network, and health access — hospital beds/100,000) were associated with news coverage opposing government assistance to new migrants from conflict zones. Pollock said these results illustrate a “violated buffer” pattern, with news media viewing the rapid influx of immigrants as a “threat to a cherished way of life.”
TCNJ undergraduates attending the conference, some presenting more than one paper/poster, included Jacqueline Faulk ’26, Emily Ferrer ’25, Mabintou Fofana ’27, Natalie Roesch ’25, Jennifer Romero ’25, and Samyuktha Senthil ’25. Student comments revealed the significance of the conference in launching new careers. Christopher DeSantis ’25: “It was an honor to present undergraduate work with outstanding scholars from around the world.” Caroline Dowd ’26: “After months of preparation, sharing research was exciting and fulfilling.” Rebecca Heath ’25: “It was eye-opening and inspiring to present original research and to learn first-hand from scholars making an incredible impact on the health communication field.” Tess Leighton ’25: “Grateful to attend the DCHC conference, I look forward to the next steps of my professional career including the possibility of graduate school.” Kyle Levy ’25: “I engaged with seasoned professionals, absorbing their wisdom; the DCHC conference represents a practical, prestigious exclamation point to my undergraduate public health experience.” Dr. Pollock experienced a “personal first:”
His 2021 book “COVID-19 in International Media: Global Pandemic Perspectives, “ was raffled off to a doctoral student from the University of New Mexico, Dora Nentoola, from Ghana, who asked Dr. Pollock to autograph her copy of his book, an unusual request for authors of academic scholarship!
Student participation was made possible in part by a scholarship fund established by Charles and Barbaranne ’68 DiMarco in memory of their son, Garrett DiMarco ’10. The fund provides financial assistance to sophomores, juniors, and seniors majoring in communication studies to help defray expenses incurred to present research at academic conferences.