Dr. Nan’s research centers on the science of persuasion—examining how people form and change beliefs and attitudes, and how these processes are influenced by persuasive communication. She applies this framework to examine the effects of health communication, misinformation, and emerging media, as well as the role of artificial intelligence in generating and evaluating persuasive messages. Her interdisciplinary work addresses urgent public health issues including cancer prevention, vaccination, pandemics, climate change, and food safety and nutrition. At the University of Maryland, Dr. Nan teaches courses in health communication, persuasion and attitude change, media effects, and quantitative research methods.

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Dr. Nan has published extensively in her areas of specialization with over 90 peer-reviewed journal articles. Dr. Nan’s work appears in top communication and interdisciplinary journals including Human Communication Research, Communication Research, Health Communication, Journal of Health Communication, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of Advertising, Marketing Theory, Health Education, Social Science and Medicine, and Vaccine.

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Dr. Nan has been a Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator on grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Homeland Security, totaling over $10 million. She has served as a PI on four NIH-funded projects on cancer communication strategies. Dr. Nan’s current funded research addresses the role of artificial intelligence in supporting parental decision making about HPV vaccination.