The University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications today announced that Francis Dalisay will be joining the College in spring 2025 as an associate professor in the Public Relations Department and in the STEM Translational Communication Center.

Dalisay is currently a professor in the Communication, Media and Fine Arts Division of the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences at the University of Guam in Mangilao. Prior to that, he was a faculty member at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa in Honolulu from 2013-2015. From 2010-2013, he served as a term assistant professor at Cleveland State University School of Communication.

He has taught more than 30 courses in the areas of public relations, digital communications and journalism. He also led the public relations track at the University of Guam and served as the publisher for the campus’ student-run newspaper.

Dalisay’s current areas of research include youth substance use prevention, health and cancer disparities, and community engagement. For almost 20 years, he has produced formative research in communication, media processes and effects, and youth substance use prevention focusing on the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands and the Micronesia region of the Western Pacific.

During his academic career, Dalisay has been awarded more than $1.3 million in extramural funding from various organizations, including the National Cancer Institute, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Energy, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

His most recent funded projects include the development and initial testing of a culturally tailored, school and video-based tobacco and areca (betel) nut use prevention program for Guam adolescents—considered the first of its kind in the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands and now being implemented in Guam middle schools; examining community perceptions and engagement with ocean renewable energy in Guam; and, examining and promoting news media literacy, news engagement and civic engagement in the Northern Mariana Islands.

Dalisay’s work has been published in various communication and public health outlets, including New Media & Society, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Mass Communication & Society, Communication Research, Asian American Journal of Psychology, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Journal of Medical Internet Research, and Substance Use and Misuse.

He received top-paper research awards from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the International Communication Association, the National Communication Association, and the Central States Communication Association.

He is an affiliate with the Pacific Island Partnership in Cancer Health Equity (PIPCHE), a 20+-year partnership between the University of Guam Cancer Research Center and the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, funded by a U54 grant from the National Cancer Institute.

Dalisay earned his Ph.D. in Communication in 2010 and a Master of Arts in Communication in 2006 from the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Print Journalism) and minor in English from the University of Guam, in 2000.

Posted: August 7, 2024
Category: College News
Tagged as: Francis Dalisay, Public Relations, STEM Translational Communication Center