Andy Tan Awarded 2024 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
Established in 1996, the award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers.
Andy Tan, Associate Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, is among nearly 400 recipients of the 2024 Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).
Established by President Clinton in 1996, PECASE recognizes scientists and engineers who show exceptional potential for leadership early in their research careers. The award recognizes innovative and far-reaching developments in science and technology, expands awareness of careers in science and engineering, recognizes the scientific missions of participating agencies, enhances connections between research and impacts on society, and highlights the importance of science and technology for our nation’s future.
Tan is the director of the Health Communication & Equity Lab at Annenberg, which employs communication science to achieve health equity for all.
His research examines the impact of marketing, media, and public health messages on health behaviors and outcomes among diverse populations including young adults, socioeconomically disadvantaged, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations. He conducts community-engaged research involving organizations that serve LGBT communities to design and develop culturally appropriate communication interventions that are informed by persuasion and message effects theories, social determinants of health frameworks, and implementation science
This year’s awardees are employed or funded by 14 participating agencies within the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Interior, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs and the Environmental Protection Agency, the intelligence community, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, and the Smithsonian Institution. Tan was recommended by the National Institutes of Health.
The awards are conferred annually at the White House following recommendations from participating federal agencies.
Along with Allyson Mackey, Catherine McDonald, Melanie Pellecchia, Bo Zhen, Tan is among five Penn faculty members honored with the award.
