December 10, 2025
The Institute of Communications Research marked a highly productive year at the 2025 National Communication Association convention from November 19-23 in Denver, Colorado, with faculty members, students, and alumni presenting research, chairing panels, and contributing to programming at the 111th annual event.
In addition to this strong scholarly presence, several members of the ICR community were recognized with some of NCA’s most prestigious awards.
“These achievements underscore ICR’s enduring leadership in communication scholarship and its commitment to fostering impactful research across generations of scholars,” said Mike Yao, director of ICR and professor of digital media in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising.
One of this year’s standout accomplishments came from ICR doctoral student Nansong Zhou (pictured above), whose paper “Serious Games as Digital Mental Health Tools: Increasing Depression Literacy and Reducing Stigma,” co-authored with Donghan Fu (University of Missouri-Columbia), was selected as a Top Student Paper in the Game Studies Division. Zhou was also elected to serve as the Division’s next Student and Early Career Representative, a leadership role that reflects his growing visibility and influence within the field.
ICR’s reputation for shaping the field was further affirmed by the recognition of Sang-Hwa Oh, associate professor of advertising, whose article—co-authored with former ICR doctoral student Seoyoon Lee (PhD ’23)—received the inaugural Teri Thompson Outstanding Article Award from Health Communication (pictured above). This rare honor is especially notable: Out of the journal’s 35-year publication history, only three papers were selected for this distinction. Receiving the award directly from the journal’s founding editor, Teresa Thompson, underscored the lasting influence and methodological rigor of Oh’s research on social media, public risk perception, and preventive health behaviors.
The conference also celebrated the contributions of Angharad Valdivia, ICR professor emerita, who was honored with NCA’s Distinguished Scholar Award during the President’s Award Ceremony (pictured above). One of NCA’s highest honors, the award recognizes a career of groundbreaking scholarship and mentorship in media studies, Latina/Latino studies, and global communication. Valdivia’s presence throughout the conference—as panel chair, respondent, mentor, and presenter—reflected both her continuing intellectual leadership and her deep commitment to supporting emerging scholars. Valdivia’s NCA participation included:
- Senior Mentor, 2025 La Raza Mentoring Panel
- Member, Publications Council Meeting
- Chair and respondent, “The Complexities of Elevating Latinidad and the Media”
- Respondent, “Audiences Navigating Disney and Popular U.S. TV Shows”
- Presenter (with ICR doctoral student Kendra Williams), “Barbie as a Cultural Phenomenon: Doll, Brand, and Media Icon”
ICR faculty and students also contributed important new research to the conference program. Kevin Wise, professor of advertising, and doctoral student Alice Ji collaborated on the study “Reimagining the Presentation of Important Safety Information (ISI) in Social Media Pharmaceutical Advertising,” co-authored with ICR doctoral student Veranika Paltaratskaya and Erin Willis (University of Colorado, Boulder), presented in the Health Communication Division. Their work adds to ICR’s growing presence in research addressing digital health communication and public understanding of risk information.
Ji contributed an additional presentation on ISI in pharmaceutical social media advertising as part of the Health Communication Division’s paper session. ICR doctoral student Jennifer Zhang presented her dissertation research, “More Vivid, More Deeply Processed: Exploring the Roles of Message Format in Misinformation and Correction of Health Misbeliefs,” in the Health Communication Division.
Two ICR alumni were also recognized with major awards at NCA:
Mel Stanfill (PhD ’15), University of Central Florida, won the Diamond Anniversary Book Award for the book Fandom Is Ugly: Networked Harassment in Participatory Culture (NYU Press, 2024).
Diana Leon-Boys (PhD ’20), University of Wisconsin-Madison, won NCA’s New Investigator Award in the Critical and Cultural Studies Division.
See NCA’s full list of 2025 national and interest group award winners.
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