Exploring Research With Real World Impact
Undergraduates Seyoon Chun and Kyle Grgecic spent the summer contributing to research at Annenberg's Health Communication & Equity Lab.
Members of the Health Communication & Equity Lab: Kate Okker-Edging, Jiaxi Wu, Andy Tan, Chris McClain, Brittany Zulkiewicz, Seyoon Chun, Elaine Hanby, Kyle Grgecic
Summer is a time to explore and try new things for Penn undergraduates. For Seyoon Chun (C’25) and Kyle Grgecic (C’26), it has been an opportunity to dive headfirst into the world of academic research.
For the past ten weeks, Chun and Grgecic have been research assistants at the Annenberg School for Communication’s Health Communication & Equity Lab, contributing to the lab’s ongoing research on LGBTQ youth and tobacco use.
“LGBTQ youth are more likely to start vaping and currently vape than non-LGBTQ youth in the U.S.,” says Professor Andy Tan, director of the Health Communication & Equity Lab, “and therefore are at higher risks for tobacco-related illnesses.”
Chun and Grgecic are working on two of the lab’s research projects, Project SMART and Project RESIST, which investigate how culturally tailored public health messaging could prevent LGBTQ youth from taking up vaping and increase their resilience to the influences of tobacco marketing.
Grgecic has been exploring the strategies used by LGBTQ social media influencers to promote health and well-being. At the same time, Chun dove into the intersection of religion and tobacco use among the LGBTQ community, an understudied topic that he hopes future researchers will use to inform health communication strategies.
The pair were drawn to the lab’s research because it felt both relatable and meaningful.
“I've seen some of my closest friends, members of the LGBTQ community, fall victim to nicotine addictions from as early as 14 years old,” says Grgecic. “Nicotine use within the young LGBTQ community is abundant and under-researched, so it's truly an honor to be involved with the research that is going on.”
Chun agrees. “I think a younger version of myself would be so happy to see what I'm doing now,” he says. “Being able to research the sexual and gender minority population seemed impossible to me in the past, and the second I saw the lab’s research, I knew I wanted to help out.”
Their internship is sponsored by the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program (PURM), which provides students completing their first or second undergraduate year the opportunity to spend a summer conducting cutting-edge research under the guidance of a standing Penn faculty member. Tan has been a faculty mentor since 2021.
Along with Tan, many members of the lab, in particular Postdoctoral Fellow Jiaxi Wu and Research Project Manager Elaine Hanby, have been guiding Chun and Grgecic through the research process, from collecting and analyzing data to speaking with outside stakeholders to collecting and classifying evidence.
“Coming into the internship, communication research was alien to me,” says Chun, who is majoring in History, “but I now understand the concepts that the lab uses, like cultural tailoring, can be applied to so many different fields. So even though I’m not a Comm major, I can still apply those skills.”
Grgecic, a Communication and English major, says the encouragement of the lab members made jumping headfirst into academic research less daunting.
“Before I started the internship, I only had vague experience with research, and everything felt like uncharted waters, but everyone at the lab has been encouraging and making sure that we feel heard and lifted up at every step.”
As the summer ends, Chun and Grgecic enter the new academic year with a solid foundation in academic research and the knowledge that they have contributed to research that has the potential to make a real difference in the lives of LGBTQ youth.
Tan is proud of the work that the pair has done over the summer.
“It’s really gratifying to mentor Seyoon and Kyle over the summer PURM program,” he says, adding that they were immersed in the lab’s projects from day one and had hands-on experience in co-moderating interviews with participants in an ongoing study. "They also engaged lab members in learning about paths in research and got a flavor of what a career in communication research looks like. The PURM program is an excellent way to introduce students to how health communication research can contribute to improving population health.”
On September 16, Chun and Grgecic will present their research, along with over 300 other Penn undergraduates, at the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Fall Research Expo from 5:00-6:30 pm at Houston Hall.
