TEAM

Man-pui Sally Chan, Ph.D.

Research Associate Professor
sallycmp@upenn.edu

Sally Chan has a background in information systems and received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Hong Kong in 2014. She was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship in the Cambridge Prosociality and Well-Being Lab in the UK. Sally has joined the Social Action Lab in the Psychology Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since late 2015. Her research seeks to enhance both mental and physical well-being for a better quality of life. She was involved in projects examining the self-regulatory processes on well-being in the online (computer-mediated) and offline (face-to-face) social milieu. Sally’s current projects focus on incorporating the data science approach and machine learning algorithms to examine the influences of the person-in-context on well-being.

Bita Fayaz Farkhad, Ph.D.

Research Assistant Professor
bitaf@upenn.edu

Bita Farkhad completed her Ph.D. in Economics from Lehigh University in 2019. She is an applied microeconomist with interests in health and public policy.  Her research studies how public programs and policies affect individuals’ health and behavior. At present, her research primarily focuses on examining the impact of the Affordable Care Act on early-stage HIV diagnosis and access to HIV preventive care and the role of harm reduction policies such as syringe exchange programs on substance use.

Xi Shen, Ph.D.

Research Associate
xi.shen@asc.upenn.edu

Xi Shen studies the social learning processes involved in forming and changing impressions, evaluations, and moral judgments, with an emphasis on the role of implicit cognition. Shen received her Ph.D. in social and personality psychology from Cornell University in 2021. Shen’s work has examined the role of intuitive social cues, such as facial appearances, group memberships, and emotional responses, in shaping people’s impressions of others. She also examines the possibility of changing people’s minds by exploring the type of effective information. She has been especially interested in implicit cognitions involved in these social learning processes, their processing characteristics, and their role in influencing social behaviors. She also studies the social cognitive processes involved in goal pursuit.

Javier Granados Samayoa, Ph.D.

Research Associate
javier.granadossamayoa@appc.upenn.edu

Javier Granados Samayoa, the Vartan Gregorian Postdoctoral Fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center, earned his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from The Ohio State University. Javier has applied his interest in attitudes and social cognition to the development of several lines of research. In one line of work, he has examined the role of individual differences in attitude generalization tendencies — whether people’s positive or negative attitudes generalize more strongly — in shaping behavior as people pursue their goals. This research has led to the development of a theoretical model of self-regulation in which goal-relevant assessments afforded by the situation (e.g., “am I prepared?”) interact with people’s attitude generalization tendencies to shape judgments about goal-directed behavior. In addition, Javier has explored the consequences of believing specific conspiracy theories (e.g., conspiracy theories about COVID-19). For instance, he finds that believing Covid-19 conspiracy theories predicts increases in conspiracist ideation — the general tendency to believe conspiracy theories — over time. That is, endorsing specific conspiracy theories appears to pave the way for greater receptiveness to a variety of different conspiracy theory beliefs down the road.

Riana M. Brown, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow
riana.brown@appc.upenn.edu

Riana M. Brown is a Joan Bossert Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC), where she works with Dr. Dolores Albarracín, the Alexandra Heyman Nash University Professor and director of APPC’s Communication Science Division. Riana received her Ph.D. from the Department of Psychology at New York University, working with Dr. Maureen Craig. Riana completed her M.S. in Social Psychology Research at the Vrije University Amsterdam, which she attended as a Fulbright Fellow, after receiving her B.S. in Psychology and International Studies from the University of Miami. Her research broadly focuses on how people respond to evidence of social inequality, particularly given the intersectional nature of social identity. She is interested in understanding ways to address and mitigate social inequalities and injustices and hopes her work can shed light on how to create greater equity and justice. When she is not discussing or researching social inequality, she can be found biking around, drinking coffee, rock climbing, or practicing handstands in the park.

Alon Kraitzman, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow
alon.kraitzman@appc.upenn.edu

Alon P. Kraitzman is the Howard Deshong Postdoctoral Fellow in the Annenberg Center for Advanced Study in Communication at the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania. He studies how citizens, both in democratic and non-democratic countries, assess the quality of political leadership and ensure that their government is held accountable for its domestic and foreign policies. His research has been published in Democratization, Political Behavior, PS: Political Science & Politics, and Presidential Studies Quarterly. Kraitzman earned his bachelor’s in Political Science and Communication in 2007, and master’s degree in Political Science in 2010, from Tel Aviv University. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science (specializing in Comparative Politics and American Politics) from Michigan State University in 2018. He was a visiting assistant professor at Michigan State University in the Department of Political Science from 2018-2021, and a visiting scholar at the Australian National University in the School of Politics and International Relations from 2020-2023.

Minjae Seo, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow
minjae.seo@asc.upenn.edu

Minjae Seo received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2024. Her research centers on understanding the effects of diverse socio-cultural factors in interpersonal and intergroup contexts. Specifically, her work encompasses (1) exploring intercultural communication and interactions within close relationships, (2) examining intergroup relations and the catalysts behind conflict or cooperation, and (3) investigating cultural differences in prosocial judgments and cooperative behaviors. By delving into both cross-cultural distinctions and intercultural relationships, she seeks to contribute to knowledge that facilitates intergroup and interpersonal communication and cooperation across cultures.

Maya Enisman, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow
maya.enisman@asc.upenn.edu

Maya Enisman is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Social Action Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, with joint appointments in the Annenberg School for Communication and the Department of Psychology in the School of Arts and Sciences. Her research explores the intersection of motivation, social cognition, and decision-making, currently focusing on beliefs surrounding behavioral change. She completed her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2024, where she investigated the differences between conflicts involving desirable alternatives (Approach-Approach conflicts) and those involving undesirable alternatives (Avoidance-Avoidance conflicts).

Xi (Cici) Liu, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Associate (remote)
xi.liu@asc.upenn.edu

Cici joined the lab in Spring 2023 and is currently working on two lines of research under the supervision of Dr. Albarracín. The first line of research involves using survey methods to examine drug abuse issues and community coherence in US Appalachian rural communities. The second line of research focuses on the generation, dissemination, and consumption of misinformation online. Cici utilizes a combination of conventional statistical methods and machine learning algorithms to uncover effective interventions for misinformation and improve trust within communities. Cici holds a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where her research centered on the influence of culture on psychological processes. Specifically, she investigated how linguistic features that may lack concrete meaning influence speakers’ mental representation and evaluation of described objects.

Janet Lopez

Graduate Student
janetlo@sas.upenn.edu

Janet graduated in 2021 with a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in English from Nova Southeastern University. After graduating, she became a research coordinator with Dr. Angela Duckworth at the University of Pennsylvania. In this role, she led the development and piloting of a course designed to equip high school students with metacognitive knowledge and structured experiences to apply psychological science to their lives. In 2022, Janet joined the Social Action Lab and began her doctoral studies in Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania under the supervision of Dr. Dolores Albarracín. She is interested in researching motivation, goal-setting, and how social and relational factors impact behavior change.

Yubo Zhou

Graduate Student
yubozhou@sas.upenn.edu

Yubo received his B.S. in Psychological & Brain Sciences and B.A. in Philosophy with minors in Applied Psychology, Educational Studies, and History at UC Santa Barbara. After graduation, he joined Dr. Hongbo Yu’s Emotion Science Lab as a lab coordinator. His previous research mainly focused on biculturals’ ingroup identification and cultural differences in risk perception and subsequent decision-making with Drs. Brenda Major and Heejung Kim. Yubo has joined the Social Action Lab and started his Ph.D. studies in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania in 2021 under the supervision of Dr. Dolores Albarracín. He is primarily interested in investigating the cognitive, motivational, and behavioral underpinnings of action and inaction.

Vishwanath Emani Venkata Subramaniyam

Graduate Student
vishevs@sas.upenn.edu

Being a self-confessed geek who has spent a lot of time in online communities, he is deeply interested in understanding the characteristics of these communities and the platforms they exist on that facilitate the sharing and correction of information. As a doctoral student at Annenberg, he aims to develop techniques that take advantage of the large amounts of data produced by online platforms to better understand information and misinformation diffusion online.

Prior to joining Annenberg, E.V.S graduated with a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Chicago’s Harris School. He also has experience working in private sector data science. He hopes to apply the econometric and computational skills gained from these experiences to his research at Annenberg.

Feng Yi Chew

Graduate Student
fengyi.chew@asc.upenn.edu

Feng Yi Chew is a doctoral student at the Annenberg School for Communication. She received her B.A. and M.A. in Political Science at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. She also served as a commissioned officer in the Singapore Armed Forces before obtaining a master’s degree in public health from Harvard University. While working at the Ministry of Health in Singapore, Feng led a team in developing policies focused on infectious disease prevention and response plans, particularly related to vaccination strategies. Her interests revolve around translational research, specifically in formulating evidence-based recommendations that can shape policy and communication initiatives to improve public health outcomes. Her research focuses on how values, attitudes, and preferences are developed and changed over time and how these factors interact with public health messaging.

Hogeun Lee

Graduate student
hogeun.lee@asc.upenn.edu

Hogeun is a doctoral student at the Annenberg School for Communication. He earned his Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Communication from Seoul National University, South Korea. Hogeun has published journal articles and conference papers on strategies to enhance the persuasiveness of fact-checking messages and promote positive journalistic practices. His research focuses on the impact of messaging strategies on beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors, with a particular emphasis on public health campaigns and pro-social interventions. Hogeun is committed to combating health-related misinformation and developing effective fact-checking strategies.

Dana Roll

Graduate student
dana.roll@asc.upenn.edu

Dana is a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is deeply interested in interdisciplinary approaches, particularly at the intersection of cognition, behavior, and social dynamics. Her research focuses on understanding how daily relationships, cultural norms, and practices influence cognitive and behavioral processes, specifically in the context of decision-making, self-regulation, and motivation in health-related behavior change. Dana is particularly interested in the impact of prior knowledge, background, and socio-cultural contexts on perception, interpretation, decisions, and behavior.

Mehrnoosh Hasanzade, Ph.D.

Research Analyst

Mehrnoosh holds a Ph.D. in Economics with a focus on macroeconomics. Her research primarily investigates the asymmetric effects of macroeconomic factors such as trade openness, monetary policy, and economic policy uncertainty on income inequality in the United States. Mehrnoosh is also a data scientist. She is particularly interested in applying econometric methods, machine learning, deep learning, and language modeling to various types of data, providing valuable insights for advancing research.

Angela Zhang

Research Project Manager/Data Analyst
angela.zhang@asc.upenn.edu

Angela received her B.S. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2018 and her M.A. in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2024. She joined the Social Action Lab in the summer of 2024 and led the analyses of a virtual social-behavioral intervention in rural Appalachia and the Midwest. Prior to joining the SAL, she worked as a research assistant at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research interests lie in designing and implementing effective health-promotion interventions.

Mallory Trainor

Research Coordinator
mallory.trainor@asc.upenn.edu

Mallory graduated from Clark University, receiving a bachelor’s and master’s degree in international development and social change. Before joining the Social Action Lab, she studied social policy at the University of Pennsylvania, where she received her second master’s degree. Mallory previously worked in the fields of drug policy, health communications, and harm reduction, with a focus on reducing opioid-related overdose deaths, decreasing geographic barriers to healthcare resources, and combating stigma. Her research interests are at the intersection of policy, behavior, and built environment.

Dylan Norton

Undergraduate Student, University of Pennsylvania

Norton, currently a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, is planning on majoring in Health and Societies with a concentration in Public Health along with a minor in Psychology. He is interested in studying the overlap between these two fields. Specifically, he would like to research how social psychology can be utilized to help understand how different communities respond to health communication as well as how disparities in public health and access to medical care can be addressed.

Madison Goodwin

Undergraduate Student, University of Pennsylvania

Madison is a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania and is currently studying Health and Societies. She is interested in research that explores how social media can be used as a tool to disseminate health information and help create positive health interventions. Additionally, she would like to explore how COVID-19 has exacerbated accessibility to health care and harm reduction services within minority communities.

Kristine Tan

Undergraduate Student, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Kristine is a sophomore at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign studying psychology with a minor in business and leadership studies. She is interested in social psych and IO psych. Her previous field research includes public mental health services for socially disadvantaged groups in China. She wants to study how to address resource disparity and limitations to help more people. Additionally, Kristine would like to explore work incentives and motivations to boost work efficiency and job satisfaction.

Yun Zhang

Undergraduate Student, University of California, Santa Barbara

Yun is currently a first-year student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, majoring in Psychology and Brain Science. Yun is interested in industrial and business psychology. Yun wants to utilize psychological methods to improve people’s work efficiency and enhance their communication skills with their colleagues. Yun has had many relevant background activities in high school, like giving a webinar online to talk about public and mental health and inventing a technical sandbag to help people relieve their pressure. Yun hopes to use what she has learned and her passion to better solve issues between social media and public health.