2026 Summer Institute in Adolescent Health

Theme: Foundations of Trust, Communication, and Youth Partnership

Objectives:
 By the end of Day One, participants will be able to:

1. Describe key factors that shape adolescent health communication today, including developmental, social, and cultural influences.
2. Explain how trust is built (and broken) in youth–adult relationships, particularly in health contexts.
3. Identify strengths-based and youth-centered communication approaches that support engagement and openness.

Reflect on youth perspectives regarding credible information and communication, incorporating insights from youth voices and lived experiences.

Theme: Navigating Digital Influence, Media, and Misinformation

Objectives:
 By the end of Day Two, participants will be able to:

1. Recognize common forms of misinformation and disinformation and their impact on youth decision-making.
2. Apply media literacy and digital health frameworks (e.g., digital wellness, critical consumption) to real-world scenarios.
3. Practice strategies for discussing digital content with adolescents in ways that build critical thinking rather than shame or resistance.

Theme: Applying Skills and Building Supportive Systems

Objectives:
 By the end of Day Three, participants will be able to:

1. Demonstrate practical communication strategies (e.g., motivational interviewing, TALK toolkit) to support adolescent health conversations.
2. Integrate youth voice and partnership into practice, including clinical, educational, and community settings.
3. Demystify digital environments (including AI) and how they shape adolescent health beliefs and behaviors.
4. Identify opportunities to influence policies, environments, and systems that support healthy adolescent development and equitable access to information.

Elisia L. Cohen, PhD, MA, is the John and Elizabeth Cowles Chair in Journalism and director of the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where she manages the extensive undergraduate, graduate, and professional education programs. An accomplished researcher, Dr. Cohen partners with the Masonic Cancer Center and Center for Translational Science Institute to design culturally targeted communication strategies that improve cancer prevention and vaccination outcomes. Her interdisciplinary health communication work includes pioneering first-of-its-kind social media and video-based interventions for HPV vaccination and cervical cancer prevention. For her impactful research, particularly in reducing disease burden among underserved rural and urban populations, she received the American Public Health Association’s 2016 Mayhew Derryberry Award. 

Megan Moreno, MD, MSEd, MPH, is a Professor of Pediatrics and Affiliate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the academic chief for the division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine and serves as Vice Chair of Academic Affairs for the Department of Pediatrics. Moreno is the Principal Investigator of the Social Media and Adolescent Health Research Team (SMAHRT); her research focuses on the intersection of technology and adolescent health. Moreno has authored over 200 research articles as well as written and edited several textbooks. She is particularly interested in incorporation of youth voice in research, dissemination of research to reach teens and families, and the impact of research on clinical practice and policy. Moreno currently serves as the Co-Medical Director for the AAP’s Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health. 

Jess McIntosh, MFA, is a national communications strategist, national cable news political analyst, and former co-host of the award-winning SiriusXM radio show Signal Boost. Currently, Jess serves as a consultant to progressive candidates and organizations looking to strengthen their social impact through message strategy, media training, combatting disinformation, and story development. With over 20 years of campaign experience, Jess has worked at every level of American politics from school board to U.S. President. She spent 5 years leading the EMILY’s List communications team, helping to strategically craft and amplify the narratives of women across the country. She served as a senior communications advisor to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, where she directed outreach to influencers and served as a national spokesperson. Her writing about politics and gender has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, CNN, ELLE Magazine, Refinery29, Shondaland, The American Independent, Lenny Letter, and more.

Janna R. Gewirtz O’Brien, MD, MPH, FAAP is a pediatrician and adolescent medicine physician, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. In her clinical work, she directs the Adolescent and Young Adult Health Program in the Department of Pediatrics at Hennepin Healthcare, and is the Medical Director at The Bridge for Youth, where she provides care for youth experiencing homelessness. She is also the President Elect of the Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. As the Principal Investigator of the Youth Health and Housing Lab, she leads community-engaged youth participatory action research at the intersection of housing, healthcare and public health to optimize health and bolster resilience among youth experiencing homelessness. Her clinical work, research and advocacy are deeply interconnected and grounded in frameworks of positive youth development and trauma-informed practice, with the primary goal of advancing health equity for adolescents and young adults. 

Erica Koepsel, MA, is the Director of Youth Engagement at PATCH, where she cultivates impactful adolescent health and well-being programs through direct youth collaboration and adult coaching, building upon a career dedicated to sexual health education that began at age 19; her experience spans diverse adolescent groups across the Midwest, a year of Peace Corps service in Cambodia focused on community health education, and a Master of Arts in Gender and Women’s Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where her research and collaborative work with Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin focused on holistic sexual health education and curriculum development. Erica brings a robust skill set in education, curriculum design, and quality improvement to her role, actively expanding PATCH’s reach and refining its youth engagement strategies.

Stevie Chancellor, PhD, is a McKnight Land Grant Assistant Professor in Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Minnesota, and a senior Visiting Faculty Research at Google Research She works on human-centered AI for mental health in social computing systems, like social media and chatbots. For over a decade, she has combined approaches for HCI and AI to build new AI inference techniques in data-constrained contexts, deploy systems for evaluation, and critically examine ethics practices for AI. Her work covers two critical areas: making AI algorithms for social media better for mental health, and the safety of chatbots for mental health. As a pioneer in human-centered AI development she has been recognized with over $1.5 million of funding and has been featured in the New York Times, NPR Marketplace, the Washington Post, and ABC News.