In early April, Visiting Faculty Obianuju Aliche and Professor Mia Lustria of the School of Information, and School of Communication doctoral candidate Pooja Ichplani, each presented their research at the 2024 Kentucky Conference on Health Communication (KCHC). KCHC is a biennial conference held in Lexington, Kentucky, that offers a platform for health communication scholars, practitioners, and students with diverse research ideas to present research findings and ideas.
Dr. Obianuju Aliche presented, “Vaccine-Related Attitudes and Decision-Making in Immigrant Homes: The Influence on Mothers’ Decision to Initiate HPV Vaccination,” with her co-author and advisor Dr. Mia Lustria. The study was based on Aliche’s dissertation on preventive health and HPV vaccination uptake among United States immigrants, which received an honorable mention in KCHC 2022, marking the second time their presentations received such recognition. Additionally, their poster was selected as one of the top 6 out of 37 posters submitted for the competition.
“It means a lot when the work you do, especially when no one is watching, is recognized in the open. It goes to prove that hard work pays. It also means that there’s room for more work,” said Aliche.
Dr. Mia Lustria delivered a paper on “Improving Medication Adherence Among Adolescent Heart Transplant Patients Using an mHealth Video Direct Observation Intervention.” The presentation was based on results of an NIH-funded research project that she conducted with Dr. Michael O. Killian and Dr. Lisa Schelbe of the College of Social Work, and Dr. Dipankar Gupta of the University of Florida Health Congenital Heart Center.
Additionally, Ichplani presented a poster “An Evidence-Driven Call for Network-Based Innovations for Primary Prevention Program Against Abuse Among Adult Women,” which was based on an analysis of a subset of data collected for the pilot study of her dissertation project. The poster was co-authored by Media and Communication student Isabelle Krukoski and Political Science student Raphaela Fernandes.
“I was happy that my Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) students got to experience the rigor of conference submissions with this presentation,” said Ichplani, who served as UROP mentor during the 2023-24 academic year for Krukoski and Fernandes.
Ichplani will graduate this Fall and hopes to continue her research focus in Communication for health, well-being, and social justice.