Why Alex

Rural adults experience disparities in colorectal cancer screening, a trend even more distinct among rural Black adults. Healthcare disruptions caused by COVID-19 exacerbated inequities, heightening attention on virtual communication strategies to increase screening. Yet little is known about how rural adults perceive virtual human clinicians (VHC). New research from the…

Members of UF Health Jacksonville volunteered and spoke at the Vida Y Salud Expo on Saturday, April 9th, 2022. Dr. Carolina Paredes Molina and her team educated the community while sharing resources about a variety of health topics including colon cancer and the Meet ALEX study.        

    On March 31, 2022, Dr. Eric Cooks, postdoctoral fellow with the STEM Translational Communication Center at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications participated in “Power Over Cancer: A Conversation With the East Gainesville Community”. This community event brought together cancer leaders, researchers and clinicians at the…

Janice Krieger, director of the STEM Translational Communication Center at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, and doctoral student Naomi Parker are two of the six co-authors of “Communicating Risk to Promote Colorectal Cancer Screening: A Multi-Method Study to Test Tailored Versus Targeted Message Strategies” published in Health Education Research on March 2. Krieger,…

Aantaki Raisa, a University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications doctoral student, received the People’s Choice Award in the Three-Minute Thesis competition for her work on colorectal cancer screening among immigrant populations. The competition was held at the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools on Feb. 17-19, 2022. In November…

Janice Krieger, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications STEM Translational Communication Center director, and a multidisciplinary group of UF researchers were honored for their project ALEX. It was named one of the seven innovations of year at the 4th Annual Standing InnOvation awards event presented by UF Innovate.…

Janice Krieger, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications STEM Translational Communication Center director, and a team of researchers has been awarded a National Institute on Aging (NIA) grant to use the virtual health assistant ALEX (Agent Leveraging Empathy for eXams) to recruit older adult minorities for clinical trials.…

University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications STEM Translational Communication Center Director Janice Krieger is the lead author of “A Pilot Study Examining the Efficacy of Delivering Colorectal Cancer Screening Messages via Virtual Health Assistants” published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine on April 20. Janice Krieger Krieger,…

University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications STEM Translational Communication Center Director Janice Krieger is quoted in “UF Health Virtual Human Intervention Allows for Colorectal Cancer Screening from Home” published on ufhealth.org on Feb. 15. The article focuses on a new virtual health assistant that gives patients who qualify…

Personnel from the University of Florida’s STEM Translational Communication Center and UF Health Cancer Center discussed barriers and options to colon cancer screenings, information about microbiomes, and share resources to participate in cancer research.   Key Topics: Microbiomes and Nutrition Virtual Colon Cancer Screenings Information about Participating in Research Studies…