Organizers

Dr. Lindsay Young (she/her)

Dr. Lindsay Young is an Assistant Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California (USC) where she specializes in health communication and communication networks. Her research aims to understand the social ecological factors that affect the health and well-being of sexual and gender minorities (SGM), with a special focus on their digital social environments. In her work, Lindsay draws on a computational toolkit that includes social network modeling and natural language processing, which she pairs with more qualitative approaches to understand personal digital experiences. Her work is also driven by a praxis-orientation, governed by a desire to help individuals and communities leverage the power of their organic networks toward improved health.

Dr. Noshir Contractor (he/his)

Noshir Contractor is the Jane S. & William J. White Professor of Behavioral Sciences in the McCormick School of Engineering & Applied Science, the School of Communication and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He is the Director of the Science of Networks in Communities (SONIC) research group. He investigates how social and knowledge networks form – and perform – in a wide variety of contexts including business enterprises, scientific communities, global health and space travel. He is the former President of the International Communication Association, a Distinguished Scholar of the National Communication Association, and a Fellow of the Academy of Management, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the Network Science Society and the International Communication Association (ICA). He received the Lifetime Service Award from the Communication, Digital Technology, & Organization Division of the Academy of Management. Additionally, he received the Simmel Award from the International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA). He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras where he received a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. He has a Ph.D. in Communication from the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Marlon Twyman (he/him)

Marlon Twyman is Assistant Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. He is a quantitative social scientist specializing in advanced computational and statistical methods, with a particular focus on social network analysis. He holds a Ph.D. from Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) in Technology and Social Behavior (Communication Studies and Computer Science), and a B.S. and M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Wright State University (Dayton, OH). His research interests focus on issues related to digital collaboration, online communities, social networks, and team assembly.

Dr. Aimei Yang (she/her)

Aimei Yang (Ph.D., University of Oklahoma), is an associate professor of public relations in the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. Yang’s research is positioned at the intersection of strategic advocacy, social-mediated communication, and NGO network research.

Eugene Lee (she/her/hers)

Eugene Lee is a Ph.D. candidate at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on organizational communication, network analysis, AI and technology, and online communities. She delves into how gig platform workers interact with organizations and peers under algorithmic management, examining its impact on their well-being.

Ke “Maddie” Huang-Isherwood (she/her/hers)

Ke M. Huang-Isherwood (J.D. University of Minnesota) is a Ph.D. candidate in Communication at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Her research interests include social capital, political participation, and immigration.