Stephanie is a Social Impact Fellow and Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Communication. Her research focuses on health communication, women's health, and stigma in communication and media contexts. Her work aims to understand how strategic message design can help promote various health behaviors.

Educational Background

• PhD, University at Buffalo (expected 2026)
• MA, University at Buffalo
• BA, University at Buffalo
• AA, SUNY Niagara 

Current Research

• Feeley, T.H., Heneveld, K., & Gillis, S. (under review). Giving Credit Where Credit’s Due: Examination of Authorship Order and Impact in Communication Scholarship. Submitted to Communication Education.
• Feeley, T.H. & Gillis, S. (under review). Reconsidering Public Attitudes Toward Deceased Organ Donation Registration: Results from Two National Surveys. Submitted to Progress in Transplantation.
• Leong, Y., Gillis, S., & Tenzek, K. E. (In Progress) The Interplay of Trust and Emotions: Examining Sexually Transmitted Infection Risk Perceptions Among Women Who Have Sex With Women. 

Academic Achievements

Ophir, Y., Liu, A., Shah, P., Wang, R., Acosta, N., & Gillis, S. (2024). Science and health journalism and its effects on audiences. In Walsh-Childers, K. & McKinnon, M. (Eds.).

Tenzek, K. E., Lattimer, T. A., Heneveld, K., Lapan, E., Neurohr, M., & Gillis, S. (2023). Mediated depictions of mental health, chronic care, and literacy: A narrative analysis of Randall’s mental health journey in the television series, This is Us. Frontiers in Psychiatry.

Feeley, T.H., & Gillis, S., & Xu-Friedman, V. (2024). Communicating Choice on Motor Vehicle Forms in Relation to Organ Donation. Presented at the 115th Eastern Communication Association Conference, Cambridge, MA.

Feeley, T.H., & Gillis, S. (2024) Toward a Better Understanding of the Decision to Register to Become an Organ Donor: Lessons for Campaigns. Presented at the 18^th Kentucky Conference on Health Communication, Lexington, KY.

Gillis, S. (2023). Promoting the Menstrual Cup: Strategic Message Development. Poster presented at the 109th National Communication Conference, National Harbor, MD, November 16-19. Health Communication Division.