Leona Yi-Fan Su, assistant professor of advertising, was selected as a Center for Advanced Study Beckman Fellow for the 2022-23 academic year in an annual campuswide competition among faculty.

This year, the center appointed 11 CAS Associates, one CAS Fellow, and four CAS Beckman Fellows—the distinction as a CAS Beckman Fellow recognizes outstanding younger fellow candidates who have made distinctive scholarly contributions. The appointment grants faculty one semester of teaching release time to pursue an individual scholarly or creative project. Fellows also participate in a yearly roundtable discussion of research interests and are invited to offer a future CAS presentation.

Su will work on a project called “Conversational Agents for Correction of Health Misinformation.” 

She plans to build a comprehensive knowledge base on the debunking mechanisms and efficacy of digital-messaging tools known as conversational agents. Conversational agents, such as chatbots, are increasingly prevalent in misinformation-correction efforts. 

Based on the project’s findings, Su’s goal is to support the development and refinement of new digital technologies that can effectively correct health misinformation—”a task with strong practical and scientific importance in this age of digital misinformation,” she said.

Su’s research examines the interplay between media and society, with a particular focus on how social media and new technologies influence human communication and social behaviors in the context of scientific and health topics, as well as brand communication. Her recent research examines the effects of humor, social media, and new technologies on science communication.