Reynolds School of Journalism

Dr. Laura Crosswell is an associate professor in the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. Her research explores the psychosocial mechanisms that shape how people respond to health messages and other forms of media content. She is particularly interested in how both implicit and explicit reactions to persuasive communication influence health behaviors, including vaccination decisions and preventive care. Her recent projects examine pharmaceutical advertising, communication strategies around the HPV vaccine, and evolving public responses to COVID-19 booster messaging. She also studies the role of artificial intelligence in health communication and media effects. Trained in eye-tracking methodology, Dr. Crosswell integrates physiological and cognitive measures into her work, allowing her to collaborate across disciplines and advance understanding of media influence on audiences. In addition to her research, Dr. Crosswell mentors graduate and undergraduate students, fostering the development of emerging scholars in media and health communication. <h3>Courses taught</h3> <ul> <li>JOUR 351: Introduction to Public Relations and Advertising</li> <li>JOUR 441: Health Advertising and Marketing</li> <li>JOUR 492/692: Media Effects: Theory, Research and Application</li> </ul> <h3>Recent work</h3> <ul> <li>Crosswell, L. (2025). Combining biometrics and self-reports to better understand perceptions of source trustworthiness, expertise, and believability in HPV blog messaging. Health Literacy and Communication Open, 3(1).</li> <li>Crosswell, L. (2024). Urgency, Access, and Trust during a Global Pandemic: Exploring Emergency Use Authorizations, Operation Warp Speed, the case of Mifepristone, and the Dynamics of Agency Decision-Making. In D. Berube (Ed.) Pandemic Resilience: Vaccination Resistance and Hesitance. New York, NY: Springer Publishing.</li> <li>Crosswell, L. & Duan, R. & Bombara, C. (2024). Recommended Approaches For COVID-19 Vaccination/Booster Messaging. In D. Berube (Ed.) Pandemic Resilience: Vaccination Resistance and Hesitance. New York, NY: Springer Publishing.</li> <li>Duan, R., Bombara, C., & Crosswell, L. (2024). Are COVID-19 and Climate Change Competing Crises? New Evidence on the Finite Pool of Worry and Risk-as-Feelings Hypotheses. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences.</li> <li>Crosswell, L. (2023). Consumer trust and pharmaceutical advertising strategies: physiological responses to ‘Actor Portrayal’ versus ‘Real Patient’ disclaimers. Communication Research and Practice, 116.</li> <li>Altinay, Z., & Crosswell, L. (2023). Public perceptions of air pollution and associated health risks in Nevada, USA: applications for health communication. Journal of Communication in Healthcare, 1-9.</li> <li>Anbro, S., Houmanfar, R., Thomas, J., Baxter, K., Harris, F. C., & Crosswell, L. H. (2022). Behavioral Assessment in Virtual Reality: An Evaluation of Multi-User Simulations in Healthcare Education. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 1–45., Recipient of Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) Innovative Research Award, 2023</li> <li>Park, S., Harrington, N. G., Crosswell, L. & Parvanta, C. (2021). Competencies for health communication specialists: Survey of health communication educators and practitioners. Journal of Health Communication, 26(6), 413-433.</li> <li>Crosswell, L. H. & Yun, G. (2020). Examining Virtual Meditation as a Stress Management Strategy on College Campuses through Longitudinal, Quasi-experimental Research. Behaviour and Information Technology, 1-15.</li> <li>Crosswell, L. (2019). The doctor in my pocket: Examining mobile approaches to personal wellbeing. Perspectives in Public Health, 14(2), 93-101.</li> </ul>