Dhavan Shah

Curriculum Vitae

Education

Ph.D. University of Minnesota Twin Cities, 1999

M.A. University of Minnesota Twin Cities, 1995

B.A. University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1989

Areas of Research

Political communication, health communication, media psychology, media effects, computational social science, digital health, public opinion

Research Impact

Dhavan Shah is a political and health communication scholar whose research bridges traditional media effects research with computational social science. His scholarship addresses pressing societal issues, including political polarization, civic erosion, and public health disparities. His research focuses on the influence of mass media and interpersonal communication, especially digital media, on social judgments, political engagement, and health support.

One of Shah’s foundational research areas focuses on message construction and framing—how the way information is presented influences social judgments, attitudes, and behaviors. His studies reveal that the framing of news stories, political messages, and health information can subtly shape how people perceive reality, responsibility, and risk. This work has deepened understanding of how media content affects not only individual decision-making but also broader public discourse and opinion dynamics, extending experimental insights to observational studies.

Another major strand of Shah’s research investigates the communication dynamics that drive civic and political participation and shape social and institutional trust, with much of this work centered on his advancements of the communication mediation model. Drawing on longitudinal survey data and contextualized media analysis, Shah and his collaborators have shown how exposure to certain media environments—such as partisan cable news or cloistered online networks—can encourage participation yet fuel polarization and distrust in democratic institutions. This work is central to understanding the fragile state of civic life in the digital age.

Shah also leads innovative research into digital therapeutics and health communication, especially in the areas of cancer care, aging, addiction, and vaccination uptake. His interdisciplinary projects—often in collaboration with computer scientists, engineers, and clinicians—examine how digital platforms, including mHealth apps, online forums, and tailored messaging systems, can support behavior change, improve self-management of chronic illness, and strengthen health decision-making. This includes research on social support networks for cancer and substance use disorder patients and messaging to reduce vaccine hesitancy.

What sets Shah’s work apart is his integration of conventional methods (surveys, experiments) with computational approaches like machine learning, image processing, social network analysis, and LLM stance detection. He collaborates extensively with student-led teams in the MCRC and CCCR, with their work appearing across 200 articles and chapters in leading communication, political science, and health informatics outlets and in six co-authored and co-edited books (see his website’s research section). Shah has served as major advisor for over 35 completed Ph.Ds. and a committee member on another +110 dissertations across nine departments. Much of this work has been supported by grants and awards totaling over $66 million in funding from private foundations (e.g., Carnegie, Ford, Knight, Russell Sage), large public entities (Public Broadcasting Service, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Social Science Korea), and the federal government (e.g., National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health).

Recent Publications

2023. “Simulating Opinion Dynamics with Networks of LLM-Based Agents.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2311.09618.

2023. “Reactive and Asymmetric Communication Flows: Social Media Discourse and Partisan News Framing in the Wake of Mass Shootings.” The International Journal of Press/Politics.

2021. “#MeToo, Networked Acknowledgment, and Connective Action: How “Empowerment Through Empathy” Launched a Social Movement.” Social Science Computer Review.

2020. “Trump, Twitter, and News Media Responsiveness: A Media Systems Approach.” New Media & Society.

2017. “Revising the Communication Mediation Model for a New Political Communication Ecology.” Human Communication Research.

Recent Awards and Honors

2023: WARF Named Professorship (self-designated as the Jack M. McLeod Professor of Communication Research), University of Wisconsin–Madison.

2022: B. Aubrey Fisher Mentorship Award, International Communication Association.

2022: Belfer Fellow of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center for Technology and Society.

2020: Fellow’s Chair, International Communication Association.

2016: Fellow, International Communication Association.

Recent Grants

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

• For the expansion of the Center for Communication and Civic Renewal

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health

• In support of “A Longitudinal Study Investigating TDM and Adolescent Health and Development: Brain, Behavior and Well-Being.”

Convergence Accelerator (Track F) of the National Science Foundation

• In support of Trust & Authenticity in Communication Systems – “Course Correct: Precision Guidance Against Misinformation.”

National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health

• In support of Clinical Trials to Address Multiple Chronic Health Conditions – “Using Smart Displays to Implement an Evidence-Based eHealth System for Older Adults with Multiple Chronic Conditions.”

National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health

• In support of Interventions to Prevent and Treat Addictions – “Contextualized Daily Prediction of Lapse Risk in Opioid Use Disorder by Digital Phenotyping.”

Courses

J345: Principles of Strategic Communication:

J566: Communication and Public Opinion

J658: Communication Research Methods

J801: Mass Media and the Individual

J813: Practicum in Communication Research

J829: Political Communication