Jiaxi Wu, Ph.D.
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Health Communication & Equity Lab
Jiaxi Wu studies communication strategies for promoting positive health attitudes and behavioral changes. She is also interested in examining the effects of online health messages on individuals' attitudes, behaviors, and decision-making processes.
Jiaxi Wu's current research interest lies in developing effective health messaging strategies tailored for youth and underrepresented groups, with a particular emphasis on harnessing the affordances of digital media platforms and emerging media technologies. Her research utilizes various methodologies, including surveys, experiments, and computational data analysis. Her recent research examines the effectiveness of health messages that promote vaping cessation among youth who use e-cigarettes.
Prior to joining Health Communication & Equity Lab, Jiaxi was a research fellow at the American Heart Association Tobacco Center for Regulatory Science (A-TRAC) between 2020-2022. During her fellowship, she used social media analytics to evaluate tobacco promotions on social media platforms including TikTok and Instagram. Her projects examined how flavored cigars are promoted on social media and how such promotions may disproportionately target and influence health perceptions among racial minority groups. She has also conducted research on the effect of health warning labels in online tobacco promotions.
Education
- B.A., Chongqing University, 2015
- M.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2018
- Ph.D., Boston University, 2023
Selected Publications
New Research Uncovers How Synthetic Nicotine Brands Market E-Cigarettes to Young People on Social Media
A study with Annenberg Postdoctoral Fellow Jiaxi Wu found that most ads for e-cigarettes on Instagram, a platform dominated by users under the age of 25, do not adhere to FDA health warning requirements.
