John P. McGovern Regents Professor Emerita in Health and Medical Science Communication
Dr. Stout's research focuses on viewer response to persuasive messages and advertising, with particular attention to individuals' emotional response to advertising and health-promotion messages. She is interested in the role of social marketing and the effectiveness of health communication. Her work on media and mental illness stigma has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health. Her work has been published in several book chapters and the Journal of Advertising, Psychology & Marketing, Journalism Quarterly, Health Education Research, and Schizophrenia Bulletin, among others. Current research concentrates on trust and credibility relevant to direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) for prescription medicines and the role of media in ameliorating mental illness stigma. Dr. Stout has served as a co-director of the Center for Health Promotion Research (CHPR) in the School of Nursing at UT Austin and as the UT System Chancellor's Health Fellow in Health Care Ethics and Communications. She has been a visiting research professor at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, with the AIDS Information and Education Program, and a visiting professor at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She has served as President of the American Academy of Advertising and on the Accreditation Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.