Charles Atkin (PhD, Mass Communication,University of Wisconsin), Chair of the Department of Communication, has taught at MSU since 1971, and began serving as Chair in 1997. He also currently holds the title of University Distinguished Professor.  He teaches and conducts research on mass communication campaigns, particularly in the health domain. His current grants focus is on collegiate alcohol prevention campaign strategies. His latest book is "Public Communication Campaigns" (Sage, 2001).

Frank Biocca is the SBC Chaired Professor of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media. His research is in human-computer interaction. He is interested in the interaction of media and mind, specifically how media form can be adapted to extend human cognition and enhance human performance. His current projects include research on the psychology of presence in virtual environments, spatial cognition and information organization in mobile, collaborative, augmented reality systems.

Franklin J. Boster (Ph.D., Michigan State University, 1978) is a Professor in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University. His primary research interests are in the areas of social influences processes and group dynamics. His research in health communication has included evaluations of health-related programs and the processes of disseminating health information.

Mary Bresnahan (Ph.D. Southeast Asian Studies, U. of Michigan, 1985) is a professor in intercultural communication.  She has conducted research on attitudes toward organ donation in Korea, Japan, and China focusing on spiritual beliefs as they relate to connection with the recipient of a donated organ and concern about organ donation.  Professor Bresnahan is currently conducting research on stigma and lung cancer.

Yoon H. Choi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Retailing at Michigan State University. Dr. Choi's research interests include message frames (emotion vs. logic) and risk communication, health communication (e.g., childhood obesity funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation), and public relations leadership (funded by the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations).

Constantions Coursaris is an Assistant Professor in TISM, where he teaches courses in Web design and usability, telecommunications, as well as advertising and promotion management in the APRR Department. His research interests lie in the intersection of usability and mobile devices for the purpose of health and/or commercial applications. Although the results of his research efforts are primarily targeted at professionals in the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) discipline, in the context of health communication research, Constantinos is fusing communication theories with those of information systems to better understand what is requisite in boosting the adoption of health information websites. Constantinos is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Usability and Accessibility Center, where a subset of his research is geared at helping individuals make more informed choices regarding nutrition and physical exercise through education programs delivered on both wired and wireless devices.

Amanda Holmstrom (MA, Purdue University, 2004) is an instructor in the Department of Communication. Amanda’s research focuses broadly on relational communication; in particular, she is interested in the contributions of emotional and esteem support interactions to indices of mental, physical, and relational health and well-being. Other areas of research interest include family communication, gender differences in the provision and reception of social support, and online social support interactions.

Peter LaPine, associate professor of communicative sciences and disorders, first began partnering with Playa del Carmen’s Angel Notion Clinic in 2000, when he and a team of colleagues and graduate students worked at a school for students with special needs including primary hearing impairments and associated speech/language and educational deficits.  In addition to the clinical work, the MSU students gave presentations in Spanish to the teachers, parents, and community members on special needs issues and their treatments.  Since that time, about 3,000 families have been touched by the several hundred physicians, nurses, surgical technicians, speech pathologists, and volunteers who have accompanied LaPine on his 24 medical trips to Mexico.  Partnering with several Mexican universities and the Angel Notion Clinic, he is developing a telemedicine and distance-learning program that will train local young people to assist impoverished parents in recognizing potential health problems.

Maria Knight Lapinski is joint appointed as an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center, and the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station at Michigan State University.  Dr. Lapinski received her doctorate in 2000 from MSU and her master’s of arts from University of Hawaii, Manoa. She researches the impact of messages and social-psychological factors on health and environmental perceptions and behaviors with a particular interest in culturally-based differences and similarities. To this end, Dr. Lapinski has conducted research projects with her colleagues in a number of countries in Asia, the Pacific Rim, Central America, and Africa. Her research team’s most recent international research project looked at perceptions of environmental and health risks among youth on the Mexico-U.S. border (Ambos Nogales). Her work has been presented at national and international communication and public health conferences, published in public health and communication journals and is currently funded by the National Science Foundation. Professor Lapinski’s favorite courses to teach are undergraduate and graduate risk communication, health communication for diverse populations, international health communication, and statistics and research methods.

Robert Larose is a professor in Telecommunication, Information Studies, and the Media.  His interests are the uses and social effects of the Internet. His current research involves social cognitive explanations of Internet use; media addiction and self-regulation in the case of the Internet; impulse, compulsion and addiction in e-commerce; motivating virtual students, the effects of broadband in rural America, online safety.

Janet Lillie (Ph.D. in Communication, Michigan State University), Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Affairs, has expertise in all stages of communication campaign design and evaluation. Dr. Lillie has extensive experience in message design, message testing, and summative and formative evaluation. She is a trained focus group moderator and has conducted and coordinated numerous focus groups for a variety of different research projects.

Lisa L. Massi Lindsey (Ph.D. in Communication, Michigan State University) is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences teaching online graduate courses in health communication with diverse populations and risk communication across disciplines. Her research interests are related to social influence processes in health contexts, especially message creation and information processing, and program development, evaluation, and dissemination. Before coming (back) to MSU, Dr. Lindsey spent three years as a fellow leading a national communication and education initiative at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her work at CDC focused generally on maternal and child health, including birth defect prevention, autism, and responding to pregnant women's needs after Hurricane Katrina.

Teresa Mastin (Ph.D. in Mass Media, Michigan State University) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Advertising, Public Relations, and Retailing. Her research interests include media portrayals of health issues as related to women and disadvantaged and or vulnerable populations; use of media advocacy as a public relations tool; and media portrayals of minorities.