Pamela J. Lannutti (Ph.D., University of Georgia) is Professor and Director of the Center for Human Sexuality Studies at Widener University. Dr. Lannutti studies communication in personal relationships, with a focus on the relationships of LGBTQ+ people. She is the author of Experiencing same-sex marriage: Individuals, couples, social networks (2014) and her work has appeared in communication and interdisciplinary journals including Human Communication Research, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, and Personal Relationships.  Her research has been recognized with various awards, including the Randy Majors Memorial Award for Distinguished GLBTQ Communication Scholarship. She is a former editor of Communication Quarterly and is active in the International Association for Relationship Research, the National Communication Association, and the Eastern Communication Association.

The overarching aim of Patricia Gettings’ program of research is to explicate the ways in which individuals communicatively manage their relationships with organizations, and how these practices influence outcomes like identity, relational well-being, and organizational inclusiveness. Dr. Gettings employs both quantitative and qualitative methods in her work. She earned her MA and PhD from Purdue University and is currently an Associate Professor at the State University of New York at Albany.

Elizabeth Hintz (Ph.D. University of South Florida) is an Assistant Professor of Health Communication at the University of Connecticut since 2021. A native Wisconsinite, she received her M.A. from Purdue University and her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. Her research examines how people managing complex, stigmatized, and poorly understood health conditions experience and navigate challenging conversations with partners, family members, and clinicians. Her work can be found in journals such as Journal of Communication, Human Communication Research, Communication Monographs, and Health Communication. 

Dr. Mengyan Ma is an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Michigan State University. She received her Ph.D. in Media and Information Studies in 2021 and her master’s degree in Advertising in 2015, both from MSU. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Finance from Wuhan University in China. Before returning to MSU, Mengyan served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Her research interests encompass both quantitative and qualitative methods, focusing on effective advertising strategies, the impacts of social media, and the relationship between family communication and psychological and physical health.

Colter Ray (PhD, Arizona State University, 2018) is an interpersonal communication scholar whose research focuses on social support following a cancer diagnosis and aims to improve communication between people with cancer and their supporters. Oftentimes his research focuses on the negative aspects of supportive interactions, including instances of unwanted support or times when supporters choose to avoid communicating support. Colter also researches the role of memory in social support and how people recall and reuse previous support messages when coping with new stressors. Colter teaches courses on quantitative research methods, relational communication, and health communication.

Liesel Sharabi (Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) is an associate professor in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University, where she directs the Relationships and Technology Lab. Her research examines communication in romantic relationships and technology’s role in attraction, dating, and marriage.

Lindsey Thomas (PhD 2015, University of Iowa) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at Illinois State University. Her program of research employs a variety of data collection and analysis methods to explore the intersections of families, health, and culture. Most recently, Dr. Thomas has been exploring the ways in which young adults who formerly resided in foster care make sense of their experiences and how experiences and sensemaking processes might connect with wellbeing outcomes.

Tiffany R. Wang is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies in the Department of Communication at the University of Montevallo. She holds a B.S. and M.S. from Texas Christian University and a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She explores communication surrounding college transition within instructional and family contexts.