Overview
Background
I am a linguist specialising in intercultural and public health communication, with a focus on the intersections of language, culture, and migration in healthcare. My research centres on co-designing accessible health communication resources with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities across Asia and Australia. Drawing on linguistic ethnography and co-design approaches, I work to improve community health, infectious disease prevention, and health equity for underserved populations. I am also passionate about collaborating with colleagues across the health and social sciences to address complex public health challenges, and I convene an interdisciplinary health communication research group at the School.
My publications focus on public health communication. A central aim of these publications is to distill complex health communication data into accessible and actionable strategies that deliver tangible benefits to communities and practitioners. In 2025, I published a single-authored book, Health Crisis Communication: Multimodal Classification for Pandemic Preparedness, which examines effective public health communication and offers practical strategies for communicating complex epidemiological concepts to the public.
I am currently leading and collaborating on three major research projects addressing health communication with vulnerable populations across gender, race, migration, and socioeconomic status. These projects aim to develop tailored communication strategies and resources for conveying critical health information effectively.
- I co-create a community health outreach program with Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand.
- I co-lead an international project that examines clinician–patient communication across Australia, Switzerland, and Thailand.
- I lead a travel medicine project in Australia that investigates how health professionals communicate infectious disease risks to vulnerable groups, including children, pregnant women, and older adults with underlying health conditions.
My research has been recognised with several awards, including the 2021 Humanities Travelling Fellowship from the Australian Academy of the Humanities, the 2025 Young Scholar Research Award from the North America Taiwanese Professors’ Association (NATPA), and the 2025 High Distinction Award from the Taiwan Association of Medical History.
I welcome enquiries from prospective PhD, MPhil, and Honours students interested in health discourse, intercultural communication, and migration studies. Please feel free to contact me to discuss potential research projects.
Availability
- Dr Sheng-hsun Lee is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Masters (Coursework), Pennsylvania State University
- Doctor of Philosophy, Pennsylvania State University
Research interests
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Health Crisis Communication
This project seeks to uncover features of effective communication used by public health officials. These features often include a constellation of language, gestures, placards, and eye gaze to help the public understand pandemic circumstances. The project started with a travel fellowship support from the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 2021 to collect the videos of COVID-19 press conferences in Australia and Taiwan. Over the years, my research assistants and I have created a video corpus of COVID-19 press conferences. We have been analyzing the videos to understand the successes and challenges encountered by public health officials in communicating about public health issues.
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Communication about Infection and Immunity
Risk communication is critical to infectious disease prevention. While patients rely on clinicians to weigh risks and benefits when making vaccination decisions, practitioners need effective dialogue strategies to encourage preventive behaviors. However, current guidelines often emphasize what information to convey rather than how to communicate it, leaving practitioners with generic advice. This project analyzes recorded clinical consultations to map the complexity of real-world risk communication and build concrete, adaptable communication toolkits for clinicians. By supplementing these recordings with clinician and patient interviews, we triangulate participant perspectives with actual clinical practices.
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Migrant Health, Equitable Health Communication, Community-Led Public Health
In this DFAT project, I co-design and co-direct a community health outreach program with Myanmar migrant workers in Samut Sakhon, Thailand. Working closely with Associate Professor Kwanchit Sasiwongsaroj and Assistant Professor Narongdej Phanthaphoommee at Mahidol University, alongside the public health team at Samut Sakhon Hospital, I support these workers in accessing crucial health information, particularly regarding vaccine-preventable diseases like pertussis. Our program is community-led and co-designed, drawing on cross-disciplinary support from researchers in cultural studies, translation studies, and health communication.
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Narrative, Rabies, Patient Experiences, Healthcare Barriers
This project aims to collect and analyze the narratives of Australian travelers who received Rabies Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) following overseas travel. The primary objective of this research is to examine the comprehensive travel and treatment experiences of these individuals through semi-structured interviews and a background survey. By analyzing these data, we intend to develop evidence-based communication strategies and educational resources designed to assist travelers in pre-trip planning. These materials will enhance public awareness of rabies risks and emphasize the critical importance of both pre-travel vaccination and immediate post-exposure intervention.
Works
Search Professor Sheng-hsun Lee’s works on UQ eSpace
2016
Conference Publication
Developing awareness and use of compliments in the Chinese homestay: A longitudinal case study
Lee, Sheng-Hsun (2016). Developing awareness and use of compliments in the Chinese homestay: A longitudinal case study. American Association for Applied Lingusitics (AAAL) 2016 Conference, Orlando, FL United States, 9-12 April 2016.
2016
Book Chapter
Authenticating practices in Chinese homestay interactions
Lee, Sheng-Hsun and Kinginger, Celeste (2016). Authenticating practices in Chinese homestay interactions. Authenticity, language and interaction in second language contexts. (pp. 151-176) edited by Rémi A. van Compernolle and Janice McGregor. Bristol, United Kingdom: Multilingual Matters. doi: 10.21832/9781783095315-009
2016
Journal Article
The short-term homestay as a context for language learning: three case studies of high school students and host families
Kinginger, Celeste, Wu, Qian, Lee, Sheng-Hsun and Tan, Dali (2016). The short-term homestay as a context for language learning: three case studies of high school students and host families. Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education, 1 (1), 34-60. doi: 10.1075/sar.1.1.02kin
2015
Conference Publication
Authentic language and culture: Scenes from Chinese homestays
Lee, Sheng-Hsun and Wu, Qian (2015). Authentic language and culture: Scenes from Chinese homestays. 27th North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics, Los Angeles, CA United States, 3-5 April 2015.
2015
Conference Publication
Indexicality of directives: Developmental stories of three American high school students in homestays abroad in China
Wu, Qian and Lee, Sheng-Hsun (2015). Indexicality of directives: Developmental stories of three American high school students in homestays abroad in China. 27th North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics, Los Angeles, CA United States, 3-5 April 2015.
2014
Conference Publication
A taste of language socialization: Talking about food in short-term Chinese home stays
Wu, Qian and Lee, Sheng-Hsun (2014). A taste of language socialization: Talking about food in short-term Chinese home stays. First Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA) International Symposium on Chinese Language Teaching and Learning, Bloomington, IN United States, 25-26 October 2014.
2014
Conference Publication
Narrating moral stances in home stays abroad
Lee, Sheng-Hsun and Wu, Qian (2014). Narrating moral stances in home stays abroad. First Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA) International Symposium on Chinese Language Teaching and Learning, Bloomington, IN United States, 25-26 October 2014.
2014
Conference Publication
Intertextuality and indexicality in the development of familial intimacy during a short-term home stay abroad.
Lee, Sheng-Hsun (2014). Intertextuality and indexicality in the development of familial intimacy during a short-term home stay abroad.. American Association for Applied Lingusitics (AAAL) 2014 Conference, Portland, OR United States, 22-25 March 2014.
2013
Conference Publication
Eating as embodied social practice: Toward Chinese ways of taste
Lee, Sheng-Hsun (2013). Eating as embodied social practice: Toward Chinese ways of taste. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), Orlando, FL United States, 22-24 November 2013.
2013
Conference Publication
Language socialization through contextualization cues: Mealtime interactions with a Chinese host family
Lee, Sheng-Hsun (2013). Language socialization through contextualization cues: Mealtime interactions with a Chinese host family. American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) 2013 Conference, Dallas, TX United States, 16-19 March 2013.
2010
Conference Publication
Metaphoric competence: A learning strategy for L2 reading comprehension and instruction
Lee, Sheng-Hsun (2010). Metaphoric competence: A learning strategy for L2 reading comprehension and instruction. Second Asian Conference on Education, Osaka, Japan, 2-5 December 2010.
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Sheng-hsun Lee is:
- Available for supervision
Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on how to choose a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
The cultural and ecological representation in Chinese and Korean language textbooks
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Isaac Lee
Completed supervision
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
A Case Study of Collaborative Writing for L2 English Learners
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Noriko Iwashita
Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Sheng-hsun Lee directly for media enquiries about:
- Crisis communication
- Intercultural communication
- Public health communication
- Study abroad
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