Deena Kemp is an assistant professor in the School of Advertising and Public Relations and a faculty affiliate with the Center for Health Communication at UT Austin. She conducts research with the broad aim of informing communication interventions to improve social outcomes. Her research draws on persuasion, emotion, and behavioral economics theories. She is particularly interested in the impact of hard-hitting message strategies, such as the use disgust-evoking images, on decision making in different contexts including health and charity aid communication. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Social and Economic Sciences, The Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, and Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
In 2022, she was selected as an NIH Diversity Scholar with the National Institute on Drug Abuse. A dominant theme of her research is understanding how communication campaigns can be used to address substance misuse and prevention. Before coming to UT, Dr. Kemp served as the lead research assistant on an NIH/FDA sponsored project examining the impact of cigarette graphic warning labels among low-income populations while completing her doctoral studies in the Department of Communication at Cornell University. Currently, she is a co-PI on a Texas Targeted Opioid Response grant-funded campaign and research program.
Kemp completed both her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in mass communication and public relations at the University of South Florida. She also completed training in Health Management and Leadership through the USF College of Public Health. She has more than a decade of experience developing and implementing communication strategies for community and academic health organizations, including serving as the associate director of stewardship and communication for the University of South Florida Health System and more recently as a consultant with Harris County Public Health.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
- American Academy of Advertising 2023 Best Article (JCIRA)
- 2022 NIH NIDA Diversity Scholar
- 2018 NSF Doctoral Dissertation Grant
PUBLISHED RESEARCH
- Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising
- Journal of Interactive Advertising
- Health Communication
- Health Education Research
- Journal of Adolescent Health
- Drug and Alcohol Dependence
MEDIA FEATURES
EXPERTISE
Media Psychology, Emotion and Persuasion, Prosocial Advertising and Health Message Design, Message Effects Testing and Experiment Research
