Rui Shi

Rui Shi is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Rowan University's Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and joined Rowan in 2018. Her research focuses on health communication strategies, particularly addressing tobacco-related misinformation through new media platforms including Virtual Reality. She also specializes in quantitative research methods, experimental design, and computational social science applications.

Dr. Shi's work explores anti-tobacco policy communication, health campaign effectiveness, and the correction of medical misinformation. Key projects include nicotine product misconception studies and pandemic-era health guideline compliance strategies. She teaches courses on health communication, campaign design, persuasion theory, and computational content analysis.

Her research combines experimental methodologies with digital tools, analyzing behavioral responses to health messages in online and immersive environments. Current studies investigate descriptive norm formation in vaping communities and the role of group dynamics in health perception. Her work has informed FDA policy discussions on nicotine product communication strategies.

Dr. Shi collaborates on interdisciplinary projects bridging communication studies, public health, and computer science. Her lab explores emerging technologies like VR for health education and misinformation correction.