PhD, University of Connecticut
About
Teaching and Research Areas: Computer-Mediated Communication, Health Communication, New Media and Health, Advanced Research Methods
Research
Research Interests
My research is situated at the nexus of health communication and computer-mediated communication, with an emphasis on mobile health (mHealth) to address health disparities. My secondary areas of interest are in scale development and validation, and media effects.
Broadly, my scholarship follows the pursuit of three key questions:
- How can communication technology be leveraged to modify and maintain favorable health behaviors?
- What is the role of individual- and community-level factors in shaping health outcomes?
- How do user and medium characteristics influence new media use and online person perception?
To sum up my research philosophy, the framework of my research is social-scientific in nature, quantitative in execution, and interdisciplinary in scope.
Grants/Funding
AI & Society Research Center ($5,000)
This two-phase project (1) conducted a structured comparative assessment of multiple GenAI models on their efficacy of lexical simplification of health information, and (2) assessed the effect of AI-simplified health information on knowledge acquisition, self-efficacy, and health literacy.
NIMH CIRA P30 Administrative Supplement Award ($251,042)
This project developed a longitudinal text messaging educational campaign to increase PrEP prescription among medical providers in Orange County, FL.
President’s COVID-19 and Minority Health Disparities Seed Funding Program ($7,850)
This project collected data on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and information-seeking for black women of reproductive age in NY State
Faculty Research Awards Program Category A ($10,000)
The PEMAA project developed a smartphone app to conduct ecological momentary assessment of risk behaviors and conducted usability testing among HIV+ MSM in Peru.
NIDA R21 grant ($460,625)
Project SMART is a mHealth randomized controlled trial designed to examine the feasibility and acceptability of mHealth tools (electronic pill boxes and smartphones) and communication feedback on medication adherence among people living with HIV (PLH) with cocaine use disorders.
Publications
Selected publications from 42 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, editorials, and white papers
Krishnan, A., Ranjit, Y. S., Zhou, X., & Altice, F. L. (2025) Predicting antiretroviral medication adherence among substance-using people with HIV: Test and extension of the information-motivation-behavioral skills model. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 1-11.
Yamamoto, M., Krishnan, A., Golden, A., Owens, G., Schell, L. M., Mata, O., & Holdsworth, E. (2024). Correlates of COVID-19 information overload and information seeking: Evidence from a community survey. American Journal of Health Promotion, 38(4), 503-512.
Ranjit, Y. S., Krishnan, A., Ghosh, D., Cravero, C., Zhou, X., & Altice, F. L. (2022). mHealth intervention to improve treatment outcomes among people with HIV who use cocaine: Protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial. JMIR Research Protocols, 11(3), e28332.
Zhou, X., Krishnan, A., & Dincelli, E. (2021). Examining user engagement and use of fitness tracking technology through the lens of technology affordances. Behaviour & Information Technology, 41(9), 1-16.
Zhou, X., & Krishnan, A. (2019). What predicts exercise maintenance and well-being? Examining the influence of health-related psychographic factors and social media communication. Health Communication, 34(6), 589-597.
Krishnan, A., & Cravero, C. (2017). A multipronged evidence-based approach to implement mHealth for underserved HIV-infected populations. Mobile Media and Communication, 5(2), 194-211.
Krishnan, A., & Atkin, D. J. (2014). Individual differences in social networking site users: The interplay between antecedents and consequential effect on level of activity. Computers in Human Behavior, 40, 111-118.
Additional Information
Awards & Honors
Research Fellow (2025-2026)
AI & Society Research Center
Research and Economic Development Fellow (2024-2025)
Division for Research and Economic Development (DfRED)
Editor’s Picks Award: The “Best of 2024 List” of Health Promotion Researchers
American Journal of Health Promotion
Distinguished Reviewer (2021)
mHealth Journal, AME Publishing Company
Emerging Scholar Research Award (2020)
Mobile Communication Interest Group, International Communication Association
Profiled in the 2017 Annual Research Report ‘Pathways to Health’
Office of the Vice President for Research; UAlbany, SUNY
mHealth Research Scholar (2016)
NIH/NIDA- funded (1R25DA038167) UCLA mHealth Training Institute