Dr. Hong continues her NIH grant review service this year on two study sections at the Center for Scientific Review. In April 2026, she served on the Clinical Care and Health Informatics (CCHI) study section. In June 2026, she continued her ongoing service on the Lifestyle Change and Behavioral Health (LCBH) study section. Both panels […]
Dr. Hong has been invited to serve on grant review panels for two European national science foundations. In November to December 2025, she reviewed for the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). In May 2026, she reviewed for the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) Talent Programme Vidi SSH — a flagship program supporting mid-career researchers […]
Dr. Hong has been invited to deliver the Tay Gavin Erickson Lecture at the UMass Amherst Center for Research on Families on April 28, 2026. Her talk, “From Information to Intelligence: Health Communication in a Digital World,” examines how digital and AI-enabled tools are transforming health communication, with implications for chronic care, family caregiving, and […]
Since the publication of “The dynamics of eating behaviors and eating environment in college students: discrepancies between app-tracked dietary intake and self-perceived food consumption,” multiple news outlets have cited our study — including Vice, Gizmodo, Europe Says, Knowridge, The University Network, Business Standard (India), Die Gesunde Wahrheit, SciTechDaily, NewsCenter (Nigeria), and Earth.com.
The new Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence in Health is available from Spring 2026. AI is reshaping public health and healthcare in real-time; how can professionals and students in the AI era get ready for the changing work environment and career opportunities? This certificate is designed to help them get ready. The training will prepare […]
Dr. Hong has received a new R01 grant entitled “WECARE: A personalized intervention for underserved Chinese American dementia caregivers” from National Institute of Aging. This 5-year research project with funding of $3,088,427 includes Co-Is from Drs. Lily Wang and Jessica Lin from George Mason, Dr. Hae-Ra Han from Johns Hopkins and Dr. Ken Hepburn from […]
Dr. Hong has received a new NSF grant (2517316), as a Co-PI for a project entitled “Enhancing AI Literacy and Resilience through Intergenerational Digital Storytelling among Older Adults”. This 3-year research project with funding of $661,000 is a joint collaboration with Dr. Janice Zhang, Assistant Professor of Computer Science from College of William and Mary. […]
Part of Dr. Lisa McKeown’s thesis research will be published as conference presentations at 2025 APHA in Washington DC as oral presentation. One is “Provider-Interacting eHealth Behaviors and Patient-Centered Communication: Trends, Predictors, and Disparities”; the other is “Patient-Centered Communication and Provider Interacting eHealth behaviors: Differential Impacts on Cancer Screening by Race and Ethnicity”. Dr. Lisa […]
Dr. Hong led an interdisciplinary team and received a $50,000 seed grant from the College of Health and Human Services for “Prototype development of EARBUD: A Wearable Sensor System for Dietary Monitoring and Personalized Intervention.” This study aims to develop a prototype wearable sensor system (earbuds) to track dietary intake for personalized nutrition intervention. Other […]
Dr. Hong, along with Dr. Sojung Kim and Dr. Emily Ihara, received a $45,000 grant from the Virginia Center for Aging Alzheimer’s and Related Diseases Research Award Fund for “Alzheimer’s Research Inquiry and Care for Asian Americans (ARICAA): Protocol Development of a Culturally Tailored Social Media-Based Program.” This study aims to develop a social media-based […]
Since the publication of “The dynamics of eating behaviors and eating environment in college students: discrepancies between app-tracked dietary intake and self-perceived food consumption,” multiple news outlets have cited our study — including Vice, Gizmodo, Europe Says, Knowridge, The University Network, Business Standard (India), Die Gesunde Wahrheit, SciTechDaily, NewsCenter (Nigeria), and Earth.com.
Our paper Two-year follow-up of dementia caregivers after a digital health intervention WECARE: a mixed-method study. Aging & Mental Health. 2024 Dec 31:1-8. has been published. PubMed link.
A new paper entitled “Mobile health and behavior tracking (mHBT) among cancer survivors: results from a large and diverse sample” was published on Mhealth. PMID: 38323153
Our qualitative study entitled ‘It’s a lonely journey’: caregiving experiences and psychosocial distress among Chinese American dementia family caregivers, was published on Aging and Mental Health. It also includes a conceptual framework that shows multilevel factors contributing to caregiving stress.
WECARE 1.0 pilot study was published on JMIR Aging! Our trial showed that WECARE significantly decreased depressive symptoms (effect size=.89) and caregiving burden (effect size=.48) among Chinese American dementia caregivers; the retention rate was 96%.
Jo-Vivian Yu made an impressive presentation of her capstone project entitled “Eating Environment and Eating Behaviors of College Students” and proudly graduated with the Master Science in Health Informatics with honors. Congratulations Shema! Jo-Vivian now works as a statistician/data analyst at UC Census Bureau.
Dr. Alicia Hong was invited to the panel of “How Can Public Health Better Utilize Social Media – Challenges and Opportunities” at UConn Center for mHealth and Social Media 7th Annual Conference. She shared her experiences on using social media to reach underserved populations for health promotion and interventions.
The WECARE protocol was published on JMIR Aging! It details the protocol development process and the main features of WECARE.
Dr. Hong has been invited to deliver the Tay Gavin Erickson Lecture at the UMass Amherst Center for Research on Families on April 28, 2026. Her talk, “From Information to Intelligence: Health Communication in a Digital World,” examines how digital and AI-enabled tools are transforming health communication, with implications for chronic care, family caregiving, and […]
Dr. Alicia Hong was invited to serve on the NIH Study Section of Lifestyle Change and Behavioral Health (LCBH), which reviews grant applications focusing on the adoption or uptake of health promoting behaviors or lifestyle changes to reduce health risks or to recover from diseases, conditions, or treatments at the individual or small group level. […]
Dr. Hong was invited to give a virtual presentation at the UCSF CARE Registry Brain Trust meeting. Her presentation, “Recruiting Underserved Asian Americans Dementia Caregivers into Digital Interventions,” is available online (30:50).
Lab members Shema Salim, Kang Shen, Jo-Vivian Yu, Wish Chang, and Dr. Alicia Hong made multiple presentations at Academy Health Annual Research Meeting in Baltimore, MD, June 29 to July 1, 2024:
Lab members made a poster presentation at the Society for Behavioral Medicine Annual Conference in Philadelphia, PA, March 13~16, 2024: Hong YA, Yu JV, Xue H, Zhou G. Eating behaviors and eating environment among college students: A longitudinal study using mobile tracking and surveys.
Hong YA, Yu JV, Xue H, Zhou G, “Eating behaviors and eating environment among college students: A longitudinal study using mobile tracking and surveys,” presented in Philadelphia, PA, March 13–16, 2024.
Dr. Hong was invited to the panel “How Can Public Health Better Utilize Social Media — Challenges and Opportunities.” She shared her experience using social media to reach underserved populations for health promotion and interventions.
Dr. Hong was invited to present at the UCSF Promoting Research in Social Media and Health Symposium (PRISM), on the panel “International Perspectives on Social Media and Global Health.” She shared her experience using WeChat to reduce stress, stigma, and depressive symptoms among people living with HIV in China.
Dr. Alicia Hong was invited to serve on National Institute of Aging Special Emphasis Panel on Dementia Care and Caregiving Support Intervention Research. This panel reviews research grant applications on interventions and support services for people living with dementia and their caregivers.
Stronger2 Project received no-cost extension from Office of Minority Health. The Stronger Partnership Stronger Community: Using Health Literacy to Increase Resilience (Stronger2 Project) was funded by the HHS Office of Minority Health and led by Fairfax County Health Department for a total of $3,875,000 in 2021. Through partnership with community partners, Stronger2 Project aims to improve […]
Dr. Alicia Hong was invited to present at UCSF Promoting Research in Social Media and Health Symposium (PRISM) panel of International Perspectives on Social Media and Global Health. She shared her experiences on using WeChat to reduce stress, stigma and depressive symptoms among people living with HIV in China.
Jo-Vivian Yu gave an impressive presentation of her capstone project, “Eating Environment and Eating Behaviors of College Students,” and graduated with a Master of Science in Health Informatics with honors. Congratulations, Jo-Vivian! She now works as a statistician/data analyst at the U.S. Census Bureau.
Dr. Lisa McKeown’s first manuscript from her thesis was published! The article entitled Trends and Differences in Perceptions of Patient-Centered Communication Among Adults in the US” was published on Patient Education and Counseling. Lisa graduated in August 2023 and works as program manager at MITRE.
“Trends and Differences in Perceptions of Patient-Centered Communication Among Adults in the US” was published in Patient Education and Counseling. Lisa graduated in August 2023 and works as a program manager at MITRE.
Only one student from the College receives this highest research honor each year. Congrats, Kang!