Health Messaging Competition Highlights the Power of Creative Public Health Communication
April 29, 2026
The graduate-level Health Messaging Student Competition drew equally impressive entries, with participants designing campaigns to promote positive behavior change and advance public health. First place was awarded to Basanta Sharma Paudel for Colorectal Cancer Awareness, a health communication campaign focused on the early detection of colorectal cancer. Second place went to Microbes & Me, a team entry from Megan A. Milligan, Lyric K. Tully, Antonia L. Hamilton, and Alexa G. Deyo, offering children a developmentally appropriate and engaging introduction to the gut microbiome through an educational coloring book that encourages evidence-based health behaviors around diet, movement, and sleep. Third place was awarded to Emily Young for Be Naloxone Aware and Overdose Prepared, a toolkit aimed at promoting the use of this life-saving intervention in combating opioid overdose deaths.
"It was such a fun experience to participate, and I especially appreciated the opportunity to learn more about the work being done by graduate students across disciplines and schools."Lyric K. Tully
Health Messaging Competition Participant
In May, the Lerner Center teamed up with Lerner Centers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University School of Nursing, NYU Langone, and Johns Hopkins for the inaugural Cross Lerner Center Student Health Messaging Competition. Graduate students from each school competed internally, then went head-to-head at a virtual awards ceremony, and a Syracuse University team took first place.
The winning entry, Microbes & Me: An Educational Coloring Book was created by Megan A. Milligan, Lyric K. Tully, Antonia L. Hamilton, and Alexa G. Deyo from the SU Child Health Lab. "It was such a fun experience to participate," shared Lyric K. Tully, "and I especially appreciated the opportunity to learn more about the work being done by graduate students across disciplines and schools."
Second place went to Swipe Right for the Right Method: A Digital Platform to Combat Birth Control Misinformation by Nancy Nguyen and Michelle Dai from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and third place went to From Silence to Support: A Multilingual Approach to Postpartum Mental Health by Ran L. Cortright & Hana Peterman from the Columbia University School of Nursing.
Congratulations to the winning teams!