Dr. Ya Yang studies digital inequality and wellbeing, health communication, and media effects on cognitions and emotions. Her work with Professor Jiaying Liu and her CHARM lab focuses on implementing cross-national surveys and psychophysiological experimental methods to examine new technologies such as artificial intelligence, health misinformation, and health literacy promotion.
Dr. Ya Yang is a visiting scholar in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara during the 2025-2026 academic year (SSMS 4412). She is also an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at Beijing Normal University. Her research has been published in journals such as Telematics and Informatics, Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Behavior and Information Technology, and Acta Psychologica, as well as several leading communication journals in China. She has also authored two Chinese-language books on live-streaming short videos and on social presence. Her work has been supported by the National Social Science Fund of China and the Ministry of Education of China. She teaches courses in health and risk communication, online public opinion, and advanced readings in the social sciences.
Ph.D. (2016). Renmin University of China. Communication (Media Economics).