By Clement Woo
When Emily Li enrolled in Health Communication () last spring, little did she know that a class project would evolve into a summer job leading a national public awareness campaign on the importance of radon testing.
In Anne-Marie Nicol鈥檚 HSCI 412 class, Li and her classmates Jonathan Ng, Clarissa Montgomery, Nazanin Mosavi Jarrahi and Amrit Parmar were tasked to come up with an idea to encourage more radon testing in people鈥檚 homes.
Radon is a radioactive, invisible gas that is one of the leading causes of lung cancer. The students targeted pet-owners as many pets are constantly sniffing floors and spend a lot of time close to the ground, which puts them at higher risk for radon-induced lung cancer and other respiratory diseases.
鈥淥ur group capitalized on the 鈥榗uteness鈥� appeal of pets as a motivator for owners to start testing their homes,鈥� says Li.
As a result, the students came up with an idea called , which included a logo designed by Li, along with the creation of dog leashes, posters, brochures and a social media campaign.
When presenting their project, the group's work was so compelling that industry partner supported their idea immediately and Li was hired as a campaign coordinator to develop the project.
Over the summer, she conducted literature reviews of various academic articles linking animal lung cancer incidence to indoor radon exposures. Research packages which included radon and lung cancer evidence were sent to veterinary clinics, associations and non-profit animal advocacy organizations, encouraging them to support animal wellness through radon testing.
In preparation for the campaign鈥檚 launch, Li also collated a comprehensive spreadsheet of potential contacts and created social media content for the campaign鈥檚 Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram channels.
She is now motivated to spread awareness of the effects of radon on both animal and human health to her family and friends as well.
