Suellen Hopfer
· Associate Professor of Health, Society, & Behavior, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, UCI School of Medicine, Associate Professor of Asian American Studies, UCI School of HumanitiesVerifiedUniversity of California, Irvine · Department of Health, Society, and Behavior
Active 1989–2026
About
Suellen Hopfer is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Irvine, with appointments in the Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health, the Center for Virus Research, the School of Medicine's Pediatrics department, and the School of Humanities' Asian American Studies program. She earned her PhD in Health Communication from The Pennsylvania State University in 2009 and holds an MS in Human Genetics from the University of Arizona. Her research group focuses on health communication to advance communication theory, address health disparities, and design effective public health communication interventions. They implement multi-component prevention interventions aimed at improving health outcomes for communities and individuals. Hopfer's research explores how messaging at individual, community, and policy levels influences health behavior change, attitudes, and policy support, particularly related to vaccination and climate change. Her work spans various contexts including clinical and medical settings, community environments, and social media, investigating communication strategies tailored to diverse populations considering cultural, linguistic, social network, and relational factors. Employing both quantitative and qualitative methods, her research aims to develop and implement communication strategies that effectively reach subgroups of the population. She has been recognized for teaching excellence and contributes to advancing public health through her interdisciplinary research and academic roles.
Research topics
- Political Science
- Medicine
- Computer Science
- Psychology
- Computer Security
- World Wide Web
- Artificial Intelligence
- Nursing
- Family medicine
- Virology
- Social psychology
- Environmental health
- Biology
- Internal medicine
- Physics
- Public relations
- Gerontology
- Immunology
- Internet privacy
- Optics
- Neuroscience
Selected publications
Behavioral Medicine · 2026-01-02
articleOpen accessSenior authorLatina women experience cancer disparities exacerbated by multilevel factors. An understanding of how multilevel factors influence Latinas' use of prevention services, can inform culturally tailored interventions. Using cross-sectional surveys guided by the NIMHD Health Disparities Research Framework, we sought to identify individual (HPV vaccine hesitancy, HPV knowledge, HPV vaccine conspiracy beliefs), interpersonal (strength of provider communication, mother-daughter communication), and community (negative HPV vaccine messages, number of times offered the HPV vaccine, clinic wait times) factors associated with HPV vaccine initiation and completion among Mexican American young adult women. At the individual level, HPV vaccine hesitancy and HPV vaccine conspiracy beliefs were associated with HPV vaccine initiation and completion. HPV vaccine knowledge was not associated with initiation or completion. At the individual level, strength of provider communication and HPV mother-daughter communication was associated with HPV vaccine initiation. Only HPV mother-daughter communication was associated with HPV vaccine completion. At the community level, longer clinic wait times and number of times the HPV vaccine has been offered was associated with HPV vaccine initiation. Exposure to negative HPV vaccine messages was not associated with HPV vaccine initiation but was associated with HPV vaccine completion. Longer clinic wait times and number of times the HPV vaccine was offered was not associated with completion. Findings suggest multilevel factors that influence HPV vaccine initiation can differ from factors that influence completion, an important factor to consider when designing interventions tailored to meet the needs of this population or when implementing evidence-based strategies for HPV vaccination.
Journal of Health Communication · 2026-02-23
article= 298), we tested whether greater HPV knowledge was associated with stronger HPV vaccination intent via more favorable attitudes toward HPV vaccination. We also tested whether gender and vaccine safety concerns independently moderate the relationship between knowledge and attitude. We found that HPV knowledge was indirectly associated with vaccination intent through more favorable attitudes toward HPV vaccination (full mediation), with this knowledge-attitude association independently moderated by gender and safety concerns. The knowledge-attitude link was stronger among females and individuals with lower safety concerns. Even when individuals possess adequate HPV knowledge, lingering safety doubts may override factual knowledge to dampen positive attitudes toward vaccination. To increase vaccination uptake among young adults, findings highlight the need to counter HPV vaccination misinformation and shift the narratives away from safety myths and back to cancer prevention. Additionally, interventions targeting men should prioritize shaping favorable attitudes through relevant and engaging materials, as increasing knowledge alone may be insufficient to influence vaccination intent.
2025-09-02
articleOpen access<p>Supplemental Table 2 displays covariances among variables included in Path Analysis 1, which examined anticipated HPV vaccination stigma from friends. Standardized coefficients, p-values, and 95% confidence intervals are shown for both the saturated model (all pathways) and the trimmed model (significant pathways only).</p>
How Californians Tweet about Extreme Heat Events on Social Media: A Health Equity Perspective
Weather Climate and Society · 2025-08-18 · 1 citations
articleSenior authorAbstract Extreme heat events are increasingly common and deadlier than any other weather phenomenon, significantly affecting mortality rates. In California, these events have intensified, impacting populations differently based on structural factors of health and location. Tools like the healthy places index (HPI), which combines 23 social and economic indicators, can guide targeted heat mitigation efforts together with social media monitoring. We examined Twitter (X) heat discourse between 2016 and 2022 across California and by HPI. From keyword-filtered tweets ( n = 4572 in top 75th quartile HPI areas and n = 2701 in bottom 25th quartile HPI areas), we inductively identified eight heat discourse categories, listed in order of prevalence: perceived heat risk, life impact, coping, venting, heat warnings, community action, expressing relief, and climate change concern. Overall, extreme heat tweets correlated with heat events across these 7 years. Among high HPI areas, a greater proportion of heat tweets expressed positive sentiment, relief (when it cooled off), and coping. In contrast, among low HPI areas, a greater proportion of heat tweets expressed negative sentiment, venting, and heat warnings. Life impacts, perceived extreme heat, community action, and linking heat events with climate change were expressed with equal frequency across low and high HPI areas. Our results indicate that HPI serves as a robust geospatial heat equity tool for assessing extreme heat impacts across California and that extreme heat events are not experienced equally across communities. Significance Statement Increasingly, local governments are developing heat health action plans. A health equity lens recognizes that communities experience heat events differently depending on social determinants of health (e.g., housing, green space, air conditioning, income). Using the healthy places index (HPI), a composite measure of 23 community characteristics relevant to adaptive capacity to extreme heat events allows researchers to prioritize equity and measure how the most vulnerable communities respond to extreme heat. Communities in low HPI areas expressed greater negative sentiment and less coping. Social media monitoring of heat discourse by HPI provides real-time insight into heat risk experiences among the most vulnerable communities. Low HPI areas need to be prioritized for future public health research on adapting to extreme heat.
2025-09-02
articleOpen access<p>Supplemental Table 3 presents covariances among variables included in Path Analysis 2, which examined anticipated HPV vaccination stigma from family. The table reports standardized coefficients, p-values, and 95% confidence intervals for both the saturated model (including all pathways) and the trimmed model (including only significant pathways).</p>
2025-09-02
articleOpen access<div>AbstractBackground:<p>Family and friends play a dual role in supporting and hindering young adults’ decisions about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. However, the mechanisms by which anticipated HPV vaccination stigma from these social circles affects vaccination intent remain largely understudied. This study applied the Information–Motivation–Behavioral Skills model to examine how anticipated HPV vaccination stigma from family and friends influences vaccination intent and its underlying mechanisms.</p>Methods:<p>Unvaccinated young adults (<i>N</i> = 728) ages 18 to 26 years in Texas completed a survey to assess anticipated HPV vaccination stigma from family and friends, vaccination intent, and mediators. Two parallel path analyses evaluated the association between anticipated HPV vaccination stigma from family and friends and vaccination intent, with self-efficacy, beliefs about sexual activity and vaccination need, and intent to consult a doctor as hypothesized skill- and belief-based mediators, controlling for demographics.</p>Results:<p>Indirect effects showed that stronger anticipated HPV vaccination stigma from family and friends was linked to weaker vaccination intent through reduced self-efficacy and a strengthened belief that limited sexual activity reduces vaccination need (total indirect effect for family: <i>β</i> = −0.050, <i>P</i> = 0.003). Stronger anticipated stigma from friends—not family—predicted weaker intent through reduced intent to consult a doctor (total indirect effect for friends: <i>β</i> = −0.079, <i>P</i> = 0.005).</p>Conclusions:<p>Anticipated HPV vaccination stigma undermines vaccination intent by weakening vaccination skills and reinforcing beliefs that discourage vaccination, with its influence differing by source.</p>Impact:<p>Tailored messaging is needed to equip young adults with the confidence and resources to overcome HPV vaccination stigma from family and friends, with each source addressed uniquely.</p></div>
International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction · 2025-01-09 · 6 citations
articleOpen accessUnderstanding factors associated with wildfire risk perception and preferences for risk communication strategies is crucial for promoting individual risk reduction behaviors and enhancing educational campaigns. Given a lack of research focusing on disadvantaged communities with low socioeconomic status, we administered an in-person survey from February to April 2023 in four unincorporated communities in Eastern Coachella Valley to collect information on wildfire experiences and community preparedness. We used multivariate logistic regressions to identify potential predictors of wildfire risk perception, such as sociodemographic characteristics, previous wildfire experiences, and social participation. We performed Chi-square or Fisher’s exact tests to examine whether preferences for risk communication varied across sociodemographic groups. Among 115 participants with wildfire experiences, 113 (98.3%) were self-identified as Hispanic/Latino and 69 (60.0%) had an annual household income below $25,000. Higher safety awareness, more participation in community or social groups, and poorer health were associated with increased wildfire risk perception. Short messages were preferred for wildfire alerts, and television was the most favored information channel. Social media was the most preferred channel among young adults. Elderly individuals and those lacking a high school education were more likely to seek information from doctors than other groups. Agricultural workers relied more on mobile phone texts and personal observations than those in other occupations. Our study highlights significant gaps in preparedness and the inadequacies of current wildfire risk communication in these disadvantaged communities, underscoring the importance of leveraging social interactions to enhance wildfire risk awareness and implementing tailored communication strategies that effectively reach targeted populations. • Social interaction can positively influence wildfire risk perception. • Safety awareness was significantly associated with wildfire risk perception. • Wildfire risk communication preferences vary by sociodemographic factors. • There is a severe inadequacy of risk communication in disadvantaged communities.
334 Longitudinal evaluation of a high functioning CF newborn screening program
Journal of Cystic Fibrosis · 2025-10-01
articleCancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention · 2025-07-11
articleBACKGROUND: Family and friends play a dual role in supporting and hindering young adults' decisions about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. However, the mechanisms by which anticipated HPV vaccination stigma from these social circles affects vaccination intent remain largely understudied. This study applied the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills model to examine how anticipated HPV vaccination stigma from family and friends influences vaccination intent and its underlying mechanisms. METHODS: Unvaccinated young adults (N = 728) ages 18 to 26 years in Texas completed a survey to assess anticipated HPV vaccination stigma from family and friends, vaccination intent, and mediators. Two parallel path analyses evaluated the association between anticipated HPV vaccination stigma from family and friends and vaccination intent, with self-efficacy, beliefs about sexual activity and vaccination need, and intent to consult a doctor as hypothesized skill- and belief-based mediators, controlling for demographics. RESULTS: Indirect effects showed that stronger anticipated HPV vaccination stigma from family and friends was linked to weaker vaccination intent through reduced self-efficacy and a strengthened belief that limited sexual activity reduces vaccination need (total indirect effect for family: β = -0.050, P = 0.003). Stronger anticipated stigma from friends-not family-predicted weaker intent through reduced intent to consult a doctor (total indirect effect for friends: β = -0.079, P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Anticipated HPV vaccination stigma undermines vaccination intent by weakening vaccination skills and reinforcing beliefs that discourage vaccination, with its influence differing by source. IMPACT: Tailored messaging is needed to equip young adults with the confidence and resources to overcome HPV vaccination stigma from family and friends, with each source addressed uniquely.
2025-09-02
articleOpen access<p>Supplemental Table 1 presents all study variables, including the number of items per scale, item-level prompts, response ranges, aggregation methods, and internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s α, where applicable).</p>
Recent grants
Feasibility of a Smartphone Kiosk intervention to increase HPV vaccination
NIH · $223k · 2015–2016
NIH · $38k · 2009
Frequent coauthors
- 12 shared
Craig Rosen
National Center for PTSD
- 10 shared
Christian Helfrich
VA Puget Sound Health Care System
- 10 shared
Shannon Wiltsey Stirman
National Center for PTSD
- 9 shared
William E. Smoyer
Nationwide Children's Hospital
- 9 shared
Eric G. Neilson
- 9 shared
Michael L. Hecht
- 9 shared
Monica Jones
Altor BioScience (United States)
- 9 shared
Michelle Miller‐Day
Chapman University
Education
- 1993
Ph.D., Public Health
University of California, Los Angeles
- 1989
M.S., Environmental Health
University of California, Los Angeles
- 1986
B.S., Environmental Health
University of California, Los Angeles
Awards & honors
- Suellen Hopfer Named 2025 Dr. De Gallow Professor of the Yea…
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