Fall updates from The Message Laboratory

This has been a busy fall as we adapt to changes in our work caused by COVID-19. I am grateful to have had several opportunities this year to share best practices from health and science communication research as it relates to the pandemic, including several media interviews and a webinar for MSU alumni. I have also been collaborating with colleagues from across the university in a working group tasked with developing COVID-19 prevention messages for students.

I have also received funding recently to continue the work of The Message Laboratory:

• I received a year of funding from the Office of Research and Economic Development Undergraduate Research Program to fund undergraduate involvement in communication research.
• I am a co-investigator on a recently funded project led by Dr. David Buys of the Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion. The PReventing Opioid Misuse In the SouthEast (PROMISE) Initiative has received an additional two years of funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to continue work on opioid misuse and farm stress prevention in the state of Mississippi.
• I will assist with health communication and social marketing on the HappyHealthy campaign, a component of the “Growing Strong Schools, Families and Communities – Mississippi State University Extension Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program” project. This work is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and led by Dr. Sylvia Byrd and Dr. Laura Downey.