Rachel Young

Rachel Young is an Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa. Her research focuses on the effects of media on health, including digital media’s role in health risk management, health stigma, and participatory health communication. She employs mixed-methods approaches such as textual analysis, experiments, and interviews to explore media representations of health issues and their audience impacts.

Young has received numerous teaching awards, including the 2023 Scripps Howard Teacher of the Year and the University of Iowa’s Hubbard-Walder Award. She launched the Coralville Media Collaborative (CMC), which connects students with community organizations to create communication plans addressing local needs. Prior to academia, she worked as a health and science writer for organizations like the American Medical Association and Cricket Magazine Group.

Her research projects include a national study of health journalists’ evolving roles, experiments on health messaging’s impact on stigma, and digital storytelling initiatives with community groups. She teaches courses on media effects, strategic communication, and community media, emphasizing inclusive pedagogy and real-world applications.

Young holds a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri and has published widely in journals like the Journal of Children and Media, Journalism Studies, and Health Communication. Her work bridges academic research with practical community engagement, addressing issues such as cyberbullying, health disparities, and participatory media practices.