Communication Faculty Awarded Huntsman Cancer Institute Pilot Grant for Innovative Health Communication Study
Tae Lee and Haoning Xue
Associate Professor Tae Lee and Assistant Professor Haoning Xue have been awarded funding through the FY26 Summer Cancer Control and Population Sciences (CCPS) Pilot Grant Award Program at the Huntsman Cancer Institute for their collaborative project, “An Exploratory Study on Tailoring Core Value-Based Narrative Messages to Address Cancer Prevention Behaviors and Policy Support for Rural Residents Using Large Language Models (LLMs).”
This pilot study examines how core values influence cancer prevention behaviors and policy support across all groups defined by factors such as political ideology, with particular attention to rural communities in the Mountain West who have limited access to high-quality health information. Although health communication research has long explored persuasive messaging, little is known about how values such as Care, Fairness, Loyalty, Authority, Sanctity, and Liberty shape message processing and health-related decisions.
Guided by Moral Foundations Theory (MFT), the research team will test narrative messages tailored to these values to understand their impact on engagement and behavioral outcomes. Leveraging generative artificial intelligence, specifically large language models (LLMs), the project will create and refine value-based narratives aimed at improving cancer prevention communication and increasing public support for health policy initiatives.
Findings from this pilot will provide preliminary evidence to support a future R01 grant focused on evaluating the long-term effects of value-based messaging on cancer prevention behaviors and policy support. By integrating evidence-based message tailoring with advanced AI tools, the study introduces a novel strategy for health communication with far-reaching public health and policy implications.
This project also marks the first formal collaboration between Dr. Lee and Dr. Xue, laying the groundwork for a sustained research program at the intersection of communication, technology, and health.
Co-investigators on the project include Dr. Kim Kaphingst (Department of Communication) and Dr. Aik Choon Tan (Department of Oncological Sciences). Drs. Lee, Xue, and Kaphingst are members of the Cancer Control and Population Sciences (CCPS) Program and Dr. Tan is a member of the Experimental Therapeutics (ET) Program at Huntsman Cancer Institute.
The research team is eager to launch this project and use it as a springboard for continued interdisciplinary collaboration aimed at advancing evidence-driven cancer prevention efforts across the Mountain West and beyond.