COM Research Seminar: Communication For Youth, With Youth, and By Youth: Co-Designing Health Messages with Youth to Reduce Vaping Disparities among Sexual and Gender and Minority Youth in the U.S.

23 Sep 2026 (Wed)

On 14 September 2026 Professor Andy Tan from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania delivered a seminar titled “Communication For Youth With Youth and By Youth Co Designing Health Messages with Youth to Reduce Vaping Disparities among Sexual and Gender Minority Youth in the US.”

In the seminar Professor Tan discussed how communication science and participatory co design principles are integrated to tailor and evaluate the effectiveness of anti vaping health messages for sexual and gender minority youth. He noted that sexual and gender minority youth including lesbian gay bisexual transgender nonbinary and queer youth report higher rates of e cigarette use than non SGM youth. He shared findings from formative message research using mixed methods the message co design process with youth content creators and results from a randomized controlled trial comparing SGM youth tailored versus non tailored health messages.





Faculty members and students from the Department of Media and Communication attended the session and engaged in a lively and intellectually stimulating discussion. In responding to questions from the audience Professor Tan shared valuable insights on co designing health messages with youth to address vaping disparities.

Andy Tan is Associate Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication. Tans research program is aimed at advancing communication science to achieve health equity for all. His work examines the impact of marketing media and public health messages on health behaviors and outcomes among diverse populations including young adults socioeconomically disadvantaged and lesbian gay bisexual and transgender LGBT populations.