About

Michelle Nelson is a professor in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising at the College of Media. She holds a PhD in Communications from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, an MA in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a BS in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Nelson studies and teaches advertising and consumer research, with a focus on brands in entertainment, media literacy, and persuasion knowledge. She has published nearly 70 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and serves as an associate editor of the International Journal of Advertising. Her research explores individual differences in persuasion and consumer behavior, including gender and cultural influences. She is best known for her work on branded messages in entertainment media and consumers’ media literacy regarding hidden brand techniques. Nelson is engaged in longitudinal ethnographic research with parents and pre-school children to understand the development of consumer literacy, as well as assessing advertising literacy among adults. Her current projects include an international NIH-funded study on culture, health, and advertising in Jamaica, and research on virtual reality mediated experiences. Nelson has worked, researched, or taught in multiple countries including the United Kingdom, Denmark, Austria, the United States, and Jamaica.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Business
• Advertising
• Political Science
• Psychiatry
• Environmental health
• Public relations
• Gerontology
• Medicine
• Demography
• Epistemology
• Law
• Social psychology

Selected publications

• Why Some Shoppable Ads Persuade: Expectancy Violations and Ad Value Across Streaming TV and Social Media

  Journal of Advertising Research · 2026-05-07

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Reconsidering Ad Design Practices and Visual Aesthetics in Social Media Interactive Spaces: Toward a Conceptual Framework

  Journal of Interactive Advertising · 2025-04-03 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Reckoning with Representation

  2025-05-12 · 1 citations

  book-chapterSenior author

  The May 2020 murder of George Floyd sparked a global reckoning on racial injustice, systemic inequality, and the broader landscape of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Many Fortune 500 companies pledged to reevaluate their policies, practices, and representations, aiming to foster a more inclusive environment within their organizations and in the messages they project to the public. The commitment to DEI became more than a moral obligation—it was a strategic imperative, influencing brand identity, consumer trust, and ultimately, business success. However, while racial and gender diversity have received considerable attention in academe and industry, the portrayal and inclusion of people with disabilities in advertising often has lagged. This chapter explores this gap by critically examining how the post-Floyd era of DEI awareness has—or has not—transformed the discussion of the representation of disability or accessibility in advertising. By contextualizing key disability conceptual frameworks concerning advertising and looking to broader trends in the advertising industry, this chapter provides an overview of where disability stands in the contemporary advertising DEI discourse.

  PublisherDOI

• Multi-omic analysis of canine aging uncovers conserved aging pathways

  GeroScience · 2025-12-17

  articleOpen access

  Aging is a complex biological process characterized by molecular changes across multiple biological scales. While these alterations have been extensively studied in humans and rodents, the molecular changes associated with aging in dogs remain underexplored despite their relevance as a model for human aging. In this study, we profiled gene expression (n = 16,273 genes) and protein abundance (n = 2041 proteins) in whole blood and blood plasma from 40 laboratory beagles across young (3-5 years old, n = 10), old (8-9 years old, n = 17), and geriatric (10-14 years old, n = 13) life stages. We identified 816 genes and 40 proteins that significantly changed in abundance during aging, converging on pathways involved in DNA repair, collagen processing, and inflammation. Notably, these canine aging signatures overlapped with human age-associated genes, including those tied to the hallmarks of aging, reinforcing the existence of conserved aging mechanisms across species.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Historical Perspectives on Race-Based Medicine in American Family Physician.

  PubMed · 2025-06-01

  articleSenior author
  Publisher

• Eco-Mapping Considerations for Informing Integrated Systems and Services

  International Journal of Integrated Care · 2025-04-09

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Eco-mapping considerations for strengthening integrated systems and health services are essential in designing and implementing efficient and effective health systems and services. This may require health services to understand and have the ability to intervene at an individual and/or community level to address people's complex health and social issues. This is imperative in meeting people’s multidimensional needs, which underlies the gap between health and social care services. Integrated care as an organizing principle for care delivery seeks to improve patient outcomes and care experience through flexible, personalized, and seamless local health and social care provision. Exploring how community members (e.g., patients) use environmental, social and personal resources could provide insights into how support systems can be reorganized—and better integrated—around the needs of service users. One asset-based strategy is eco-mapping. Eco-mapping is a tool that originated in child welfare practices and has been adopted widely by clinicians and researchers. The resulting maps are graphic illustrations of individuals or family units shown in the center of a circle. Outer circles within concentric circles formed around the center represent the sources of connection to that person or family, reflecting fewer intimate relationships moving outward. Lines joining the outer circles to the central circle are denoted in specific ways to represent the nature of the relationships. For example, a solid or thick line represents a critical or strong connection, a dotted line means a tenuous connection and a jagged line could signify a conflicted connection. Lines with arrows indicate the direction of resources, energy or interests. With the diagram's representation of familial and environmental relationships, it’s possible to evaluate the range of, or lack of, support and assistance available to people, families and communities. A scoping literature review informs this presentation to understand where and how eco-maps have been used in health services research. We will apply these results to the concept of integrated care, sharing the results, including consideration of the eco-mapping tool for strengthening integrated systems and services by identifying gaps in service integration and developing an actionable roadmap. As a planning tool, eco-mapping is a promising strategy for supporting community and stakeholder engagement.

  PublisherDOI

• Translational immune and metabolic markers of aging in dogs

  Scientific Reports · 2025-04-25 · 6 citations

  articleOpen access

  Dogs serve as a promising aging model due to their genetic diversity, condensed lifespan, and shared living environment with humans. Alterations in the immune and metabolic parameters are hallmarks of aging in humans, but few studies have investigated these changes in dogs. We investigated the association of whole blood parameters with aging in a cross-sectional field study with a population of 451 companion dogs. Additionally, we measured total lymphocytes, total T-cells, CD4 T-cells, CD8 T-cells, B-cells, CBC, insulin and adiponectin in a cross-sectional study of 74 laboratory research beagles. In companion dogs, we report total lymphocytes and RBCs decrease significantly with age while platelets increase significantly. In lab beagles, total lymphocytes, T-cells, CD4 T-cells, CD8 T-cells, and B cells are significantly lower in Aged and Geriatric beagles. Furthermore, the CD4/CD8 ratio is significantly lower in Geriatric beagles. We also found that Geriatric beagles experience hyperinsulinemia, while plasma adiponectin is significantly lower in both Aged and Geriatric beagles. These results align with the age-related immune and metabolic alterations seen in humans and provide additional evidence that dogs serve as a relevant translational model of aging.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A dose optimization phase 1b/2 study evaluating mipletamig (formerly APVO436), a novel bispecific CD123 x CD3 ADAPTIRÒ molecule in combination therapy for the treatment of frontline acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in patients unfit for intensive chemotherapy

  Blood · 2025-11-03 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Introduction Despite azacitidine and venetoclax (AZA/VEN) being a new standard treatment for newly diagnosed older/unfit AML, overall outcomes remain poor. Mipletamig is a novel CD123 x CD3 bispecific molecule that showed promising activity in a Phase 1 dose escalation/expansion trial, including combination and monotherapy cohorts, at a safe and efficacious dose of 18 mcg weekly. We present preliminary results of the Phase 1b dose optimization trial using mipletamig with AZA/VEN in newly diagnosed (ND) CD123+ AML pts (RAINIER, APVO436-5201 (NCT 05303076)). Methods Patients (Pts/Pt) with primary or secondary AML (arising from MDS or CMML) are included. Prior hypomethylating agent therapy is excluded. Mipletamig/AZA/VEN triplet therapy starts on cycle 1 day 1 (C1D1) in a 28-day cycle. In cycle 1, each cohort receives 4 priming doses, administered by 4-hour intravenous (IV) infusion of mipletamig (1, 2, 4, and 8 mcg) on days 1, 3, 5, and 8, respectively, followed by the cohort assigned weekly dose on days 15 and 22, which continued weekly during cycle 2 and beyond. Escalating mipletamig target doses are planned across 7 sequential dose levels (9 mcg-137mcg). VEN duration is 21 days/cycle and AZA (75 mg/m2) 7 days/cycle. Responses are assessed using 2022 ELN criteria. Reduction in AZA/VEN dosing duration is allowed for pts in morphologic complete remission (CR), as is the interruption of all 3 drugs between cycles for count recovery. Priming and target dose levels are subject to modification based on safety observations, using a Bayesian optimal interval (BOIN) design across all 7 dosing cohorts. The primary endpoint is safety and determining the optimal recommended phase 2 dose(s) of mipletamig in combination with AZA/VEN for ND AML. Pts had to have received at least 1 dose of mipletamig at the target dose level (C1D15) to be evaluable for target dose DLT and response assessment. Pts withdrawn prior to C1D15 were evaluable for safety and priming dose DLT assessment. Results A total of 13 pts were enrolled with a data cut of July 18, 2025, nine pts with a median age of 72 years (range 58-87) and ECOG 0-2 were evaluable for target dose limiting toxicity (DLT) and response across 2 Cohorts: Cohort 1, n=3, 9 mcg; Cohort 2, n=6, 18 mcg.Of these 9, 6 were ELN adverse risk, 2 intermediate, and 1 favorable.Four enrolled pts received at least one mipletamig dose but did not complete C1D15 and were not evaluable (1 pt withdrew consent, 1 pt died from unrelated causes, 1 pt withdrawn based on PI discretion, 1 pt experienced a priming dose DLT of Grade 4 AST elevation leading to reduction in priming doses for subsequent study patients).The reduced priming dose regimen is 0.5 mcg, 1.5 mcg, 3 mcg, and 6 mcg on Days 1, 3, 5, and 8, respectively. There was 1 priming dose DLT and no target dose DLTs. All 13 enrolled pts had at least one TEAE. The most frequent non-hematological TEAEs were infusion related reactions (IRR) in 9 pts; constipation, cough, AST and ALT elevations each in 6 pts; Hypoxia, Hypotension and Nausea each in 5 pts. Twenty-five treatment-related AEs occurred in 9 pts with the most frequent being IRR in 9 pts and increased AST, ALT and QTc prolongation in 2 pts each. Most IRRs were Grade (G) 1-2 and manageable. Related G3/G4 AEs were reported in 2 pts as ALT and AST elevations and in 1 pt each as QTc prolongation, IRR, neutropenia and platelet count decreased. No pts experienced cytokine release syndrome (CRS). A total of 7 of 9 evaluable pts (78%) achieved a complete remission (CR), one (11%) partial remission (PR), and one (11%) was refractory. Five of the 7 CR pts achieved MRD negative status. Of 4 pts that had TP53 mutations, 2 achieved CR, one achieved PR and one was refractory. One of the TP53 gene-mutated pts became MRD negative and has maintained the CR for > 8 months (study treatment ongoing). Conclusions Preliminary results from the study indicate that mipletamig is well tolerated and safe as a combination agent with AZA/VEN in untreated AML pts. Anti-leukemic activity is notable and particularly encouraging at the two lowest target dose levels of mipletamig (9 mcg and 18 mcg), with high rates of full CR and MRD-negativity and consistent with signals seen on the prior Phase 1 study. CRS has not been detected with the addition of the new priming dose schedule, while manageable IRRs were observed during that phase. The study is actively enrolling, and higher dose level results will be presented at the congress.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Honoring Dr. Jay Siwek and 75 Years of American Family Physician.

  PubMed · 2025-04-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

• Developing a Conceptual Model of Compassion in Healthcare Transitions 

  International Journal of Integrated Care · 2025-04-09 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  Compassion stands as a fundamental element in pediatric healthcare. Compassionate care is critical in delivering treatments and also in shaping the holistic experience of patients and their families. Yet, a unified understanding of what constitutes compassion from the perspectives and preferences of pediatric patients and their families is unknown. In particular, the significance of compassionate care during transitions from pediatric to adult healthcare cannot be overstated, especially for youth with disabilities. Numerous challenges exist during care transitions from pediatric to adult healthcare including navigating fragmented systems, unfamiliar healthcare environments, and a lack of tailored support systems. Addressing these challenges necessitates an evolution of existing conceptual models of compassion, tailored to meet the unique needs and experiences of the transition-age population. This qualitative study employed framework analysis, informed by the Compassion in Health Care Empirical Model by Sinclair et al. (2015) aiming to refine a conceptual model of compassionate care during the transition from pediatric to adult healthcare. The research involved a multidisciplinary team comprising researchers, healthcare professionals, youth participants, and family caregivers who collaborated in the design, implementation, and monitoring of the study. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with 15 youth and 8 caregivers, followed by theoretical sampling to achieve diversity. Data collection occurred via telephone interviews and MS Teams focus groups, exploring experiences and perspectives on compassionate care in healthcare transitions. Analysis involved staged coding, framework analysis, and constant comparative analysis. Preliminary analysis has resulted in a model of compassion in health care transitions. This model may include elements such as empathetic communication, personalized support networks, proactive guidance through healthcare system shifts, inclusive and accessible healthcare environments, empowerment in decision-making processes, and ongoing holistic support beyond medical interventions, all fostering a compassionate continuum of care. Unlike existing compassionate care models, our findings highlight the evolving medical needs necessitating educational transitions, social adjustments, and a greater reliance on family support structures. Additionally, compassionate care in the context of youth with disability require consideration of the emotional aspects of transitioning from pediatric to adult care, making the need for tailored compassionate care more pronounced. The impact of our study lies in illuminating the nuanced needs during healthcare transitions in the context of youth with disabilities and their caregivers, offering insights that can inform tailored compassionate care strategies. Moving forward, our next steps entail refining the model of compassion in health care transitions, potentially implementing and testing these strategies in real-world healthcare settings to improve transitional care practices globally.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Hye‐Jin Paek

  18 shared

• Regina Ahn

  University of Miami

  13 shared

• Gail M. Ferguson

  University of Minnesota

  11 shared

• Alexandra M. Vilela

  James Madison University

  8 shared

• Barbara H. Fiese

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  8 shared

• Mark A. Rademacher

  Butler University

  6 shared

• Sameer Deshpande

  Applied Materials (United States)

  6 shared

• Michelle L. M. Wood

  University of Minnesota

  5 shared

Labs

• Charles H. Sandage Department of AdvertisingPI

Education

• Ph.D., Communications

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  1997

• M.A., Journalism and Mass Communication

  University of Wisconsin-Madison

  1991

• B.S., English

  University of Wisconsin-Madison

  1989