Florida State University
School of Communication and Information
296 Champions Way
Tallahassee,
FL
USA
32306
jcortese@fsu.edu
Biographical Sketch:
Juliann Cortese is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication at Florida State University where she teaches classes focusing on design. Specifically, she teaches Desktop Multimedia at the undergraduate level and Visual Communication at the graduate level. Dr. Cortese received her PhD at the Ohio State University where her research focused on mass media uses and effects with specific emphasis on online health communication. She continues to study media effects particularly in the area of enhancement of knowledge structure and elaboration through the use of online information gathering. Her research in this area has led to the publication of a book titled, Internet Learning and the Building of Knowledge. Additional published research in this area focuses on how the act of elaborating on newly acquired information affects knowledge structure in terms of acquiring and restructuring knowledge. Other areas of research in which Dr. Cortese focuses include: Internet use for health informationi; knowledge structure and how it may or may not be modified after Internet information acquisition; patient use of information acquired during self-motivated searches; online social support and social networking; efficacy of online tailored health messages; and ways of optimizing use of the Internet for health management. She is currently a co-investigator on a Florida State University planning grant with Dr. Mia Lustria focusing on testing the effects of a tailored health website on adolescents’ comprehension, behavior intentions and attitudes toward puberty and decision making.