Research
Prof. May is one of the world’s foremost experts in health communication and behaviour. Her research aims to bridge the gap between communication science and public health, focusing on leveraging digital technologies to positively influence health behaviours across diverse populations. She has been awarded over S$20 million in grants (as of April 2025) across more than 90 projects, in which she has conducted numerous studies and pioneered innovative interventions and health promotion strategies, addressing critical areas such as chronic disease, nutrition and fitness, and pandemic response. Through her work, Prof. May continues to shape how health communication effectively drives behavioural change in the local, regional, and global.
Current Areas of Research
- Messaging for Sustainable Food Products
- AI & Communication in Medicine
- Communicable & Infectious Diseases
- Digitally Mediated Health Behaviours
- Children’s & Family Health Promotion
- One Health
Total awarded grant amount (AS OF APRIL 2025):
S$22,777,347
| Year | Project Title | Role | Grant | Amount |
| 2025 | Singapore Food Attitudes Study | PI | Singapore Food Agency (SFA) | $2,517,970 |
| 2024 | Public awareness and acceptance towards genomic testing (REQ0601253) | PI | Precision Health Research (PRECISE), Consortium for Clinical Research and Innovation, Singapore (CRIS) | $198,770 |
| 2024 | Online harms, perpetration, and its effects on adolescents’ well-being in Singapore: A longitudinal panel study (MOE-000627-00) | PI | Academic Research Fund (AcRF) Tier 2, Ministry of Education (MOE) | $509,000 |
| 2023 | Collaborative development of a One Health participatory surveillance system for infectious diseases for Chiang Mai, Thailand (US$50,000) (TC2302-113696) |
PI | Skoll Foundation Ending Pandemics Grant, United States | $65,800 |
| 2023 | Investigating the acceptance of delayed prescription among the population in Singapore: An explorative study (ARGSeedGrant-2022-05) | PI | Collaborative Solutions Targeting Antimicrobial Resistance Threats in Health Systems (CoSTAR-HS), Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, NUS | $48,900 |
| 2023 | Tackling misleading health information through networks of scientists in Southeast Asia (SCON-10000590) | PI | National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, United States | $10,465 |
| 2023 | Different strokes for different folks: Leveraging on community social networks for public health education on antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance (MOH-001291-00) | Co-PI | National Medical Research Council (NMRC), Ministry of Health (MOH) | $675,000 |
| 2023 | Exploring concerns of inappropriate conduct in sport: Athlete’s perspective in Singapore | PI | Sports Singapore | $30,000 |
| 2022 | Consumers’ risk perceptions, rational and implicit considerations in alternative protein acceptance behaviours (W22W3D0008) | PI | A*STAR | $1,960,200 |
| 2022 | Singapore Food Demand Survey | PI | Singapore Food Agency (SFA) | $630,950 |
| 2022 | A longitudinal assessment of children’s advertising guidelines on child food consumption and preferences in Singapore (MOH-001037) | PI | NMRC, MOH | $424,800 |
| 2021 | Vaccine communication and messaging: Addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and promoting population acceptance (COVID19RF-0009) | PI | National Medical Research Council Health Services Research Grant (NMRC-HSRG), MOH | $1,184,400 |
| 2021 | Conversations for life: Laying the groundwork for more effective communication in palliative care (MOH-000580) | PI | NMRC Health Services Research Grant (NMRC-HSRG), MOH | $705,588 |
| 2020 | Media communication, online falsehoods and population responses surrounding the novel coronavirus disease crisis (COVID-19) in Singapore (COVID19RF-005) | PI | NMRC 2019-nCoV Research Fund, MOH | $275,400 |
| 2020 | Modelling and analytics for the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Singapore (MOH-000418-00) | Co-PI | NMRC COVID-19 Research Fund First Call Grant, MOH | $950,600 |
| 2020 | Sustainment, development and enhancement of a mobile surveillance system for vector-borne diseases: Mo-Buzz+ 2020 (US$125,100) (TF2001-088539) | PI | Skoll Foundation Ending Pandemics Grant, United States | $151,674 |
| 2020 | Consumers’ implicit and explicit responses to sensory cues in alternate protein foods: A cross-cultural investigation (BMRC A19D4b0093) | PI | 1st Singapore-Australia Bilateral Programme on “Innovations in Food for Precision Health” 2019 Grant Call | $203,280 |
| 2018 | Preventing obesity-related diseases from young: Evaluating the longitudinal impact of multimedia intervention in promoting self-regulation of calorie consumption in children (NMRC-HSRG-0089-2018) | PI | NMRC-HSRG, MOH | $423,055 |
| 2017 | Epihack Colombo for dengue prevention mobile communication | PI | Skoll Foundation Global Pandemic Threats Grant, United States | $220,808 |
| 2017 | A time-based assessment of children’s advertising guidelines on child food consumption and preferences in Singapore (Part II extension) (NMRC/HSRG/0068/2016-00) | PI | NMRC-HSRG, MOH | $476,940 |
| 2017 | Social robots to enhance the interactivity of the BP Initiative @ Schools Programme | PI | Singapore Heart Foundation | $674,605 |
| 2017 | Preparedness versus paranoia: Media exposure and Singaporeans’ awareness and responses to the Zika outbreak | PI | NMRC Zika Grant, MOH | $188,700 |
| 2017 | Epidemiology of Zika virus and other Aedes-borne infections in Singapore | Co-PI | NMRC Zika Grant, MOH | $414,000 |
| 2017 | A baseline, cross-sectional and intervention study investigating individual, cultural and organisational factors influencing ownership of workplace health and safety leading to a mindset change and actions | Co-PI | Workplace Safety & Health Institute (WSHI) RCA | $1,537,536 |
| 2016 | How parenting factors and child educational environment influence children’s online risk-taking behaviors: A mixed method assessment | PI | Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) | $62,160 |
| 2016 | Caregivers Circle | PI | Tote Board – Enabling Lives Grant | $232,200 |
| 2015 | Future health in Asia: A multi-country study of health information and health benefit seeking behaviours | PI | Economic Development Board (via Asian Consumer Insights Institute) | $150,000 |
| 2015 | A population-level study of vaccine attitude, acceptance and uptake in Singapore (MOH/CDPHRG/0017/2015-00) | PI | NMRC Communicable Disease-Public Health Research Grant (CDPHRG), MOH | $502,800 |
| 2015 | Leadership in strategic & health communication education (US$24,000) |
PI | The Ogilvy Foundation, United States | $32,000 |
| 2014 | Monitoring seasonal-pandemic influenza vaccine effectiveness and early warning system for outbreaks or emerging infectious diseases amongst healthcare workers in a hospital setting via an integrated digital syndromic and diagnostic surveillance system (FluMobile) | Co-PI | NMRC-CDPHRG, MOH | $630,000 |
| 2014 | BP Initiative @ schools: Assessing the extended and longitudinal effects of knowledge sharing and measurement of blood pressure | PI | Singapore Heart Foundation-NTU Joint R&D | $80,000 |
| 2013 | A time-based assessment of children’s advertising guidelines on child food consumption and preferences in Singapore | PI | NMRC-HSR, MOH | $402,720 |
| 2013 | Digital media literacy: Cyber wellness of Singapore youths and adults | Co-PI | Media Development Authority (MDA) | $98,000 |
| 2012 | Moral cleansing and sensory effects among Asian consumers in the domain of food consumption | PI | Asian Consumer Insights Institute (ACI) | $14,500 |
| 2012 | Discovering the cognitive and neurological basis of cultural competence | Co-PI | AcRF Tier 2, MOE | $473,120 |
| 2011 | Socially-mediated system for malaria-dengue public health warning and communication – via Centre of Social Media Innovations for Communities (COSMIC) |
PI | MDA | $1,670,000 |
| 2011 | Impact of advertising on children’s food consumption behaviours | PI | RCA4, Health Promotion Board (HPB) | $6,600 |
| 2011 | Baseline study – via Centre of Social Media Innovations for Communities (COSMIC) |
Co-PI | MDA | $566,000 |
| 2011 | Role of scent in influencing cognitive and affective responses | PI | Defence Science Organisation (DSO) | $98,900 |
| 2011 | Can digital technology be in the frontline battle for obesity: A multi-platform assessment of the role of digital technology in the communication of health information and health education of young Singaporeans | PI | NMRC-HSR, MOH | $648,500 |
| 2010 | A2GameF3 design and development of an intergenerational digitally mediated fitness game for elderly users | Co-PI | A*STAR | $602,110 |
| 2010 | Impact of digital gaming technology on physical activity and obesity related behaviours | PI | RCA3, HPB | $75,000 |
| 2009 | Nutrition and food choice behaviours | PI | RCA2, HPB | $32,280 |
| 2009 | Impact of media and message types on obesity related behaviours | PI | RCA1, HPB | $26,400 |
| Year | Project Title | Role | Grant | Amount |
| 2024 | Health attitudes and behaviours: A multi-study | PI | CoHASS Incentive Grant Scheme (IGS), NTU | $20,000 |
| 2024 | Exploring perceptions of value in alternative proteins and its implications on acceptance | PI | Future Ready Food Safety Hub (FRESH), NTU | $235,800 |
| 2023 | Development and validation of a novel scale to assess susceptibility towards health misinformation (RG57-23) | PI | AcRF Tier 1, MOE | $85,000 |
| 2023 | Sewage-based surveillance for rapid outbreak detection and intervention in Singapore | Co-I | Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE), NTU | $50,000 |
| 2022 | Intergenerational digital media socialisation for enhancing elderly digital and health literacy (RT04-21) | PI | AcRF Tier 1, MOE | $196,500 |
| 2020 | Examining doctor-patient communication in triadic versus dyadic medical interactions in geriatric clinics in Singapore (AG2019004) | PI | Ageing Research Institute for Society and Education (ARISE)-Geriatric Education & Research Institute (GERI) Research Grant | $99,750 |
| 2019 | Understanding knowledge, attitudes and practices surrounding antimicrobial resistance in Singapore (RG41-19 (NS) | PI | AcRF Tier 1, MOE | $84,541 |
| 2017 | Efficacy of transmitting hypertension and cardiovascular health information, and promoting BP screening to elderly via youth agents | PI | ARISE-GERI Research Grant | $50,000 |
| 2016 | Reverse socialization: How Singaporean youth can impart cyber knowledge and skills to the elderly | PI | HASS Incentive Scheme, NTU | $5,000 |
| 2015 | Developing intercultural competent exchange students (DICES): Pilot study on inculcating 21st century skills for lifelong learning | Co-PI | Centre for Research and Development in Learning (CRADLE), NTU | $33,050 |
| 2015 | Complex scents induce risk-taking behavior: Understanding the role of self-control | Co-PI | University Cluster Grant Tier 1, NTU | $90,608 |
| 2014 | The role of socialization agents in adolescents’ responses to mobile marketing: A consumer socialization perspective | Co-PI | University Cluster Grant Tier 1, NTU | $79,960 |
| 2014 | Evaluating efficacy of a cyberbullying intervention programme for children under age 13 in changing their online attitudes toward cyberbullying | Co-PI | AcRF Tier 1, MOE | $89,460 |
| 2014 | A model of value development and health consumption amongst young Asians | PI | College Research Grant, NTU | $5,000 |
| 2013 | Potential acceptance of a mobile phone-based influenza communication system among adolescents, parents and teachers: Role of peers and social influence | PI | AcRF Tier 1, MOE | $84,880 |
| 2013 | The impact of advertising and social media on Singapore adolescents’ and youths’ materialism and unhealthy consumption behaviours: A multi-disciplinary approach | Co-PI | AcRF Tier 1, MOE | $99,880 |
| 2013 | Public health communication in Sri Lanka: Understanding general beliefs, attitudes, intentions and behaviour towards civic engagement in infectious disease reporting | PI | School Research Grant, NTU | $3,000 |
| 2013 | Cyberbullying and parental mediation strategies | Co-PI | AcRF Tier 1, MOE | $98,800 |
| 2013 | Digital technology for health interventions: Extending scientific knowledge to adult and regional populations | PI | Cluster Grant, NTU | $50,000 |
| 2013 | Virtual social interactions as potential new intervention methods for autism: Baseline data and pilot programs as building blocks | Co-PI | Cluster Grant, NTU | $50,000 |
| 2013 | Understanding the drivers of corporate image: Toward a social responsibility model | Co-PI | Cluster Grant, NTU | $50,000 |
| 2012 | Breast cancer prevention as social behaviour: Integrating intentional and social intervention to motivate breast cancer detection of Chinese women | PI | School Research Grant, NTU | $2,980 |
| 2012 | Baseline study to gather information about pregnancy related knowledge and risk perceptions among potential mothers in Bangladesh | PI | School Research Grant, NTU | $3,000 |
| 2012 | When should organizations apologize? Examining the timing of apologies and how these affect organizational reputation and stakeholder relationship | Co-Pi | School Research Grant, NTU | $4,995 |
| 2012 | Social motivators in anti-obesity | PI | College Research Grant, NTU | $5,000 |
| 2012 | Sorry but not sorry enough: Examining how apologies are uttered in times of crisis | PI | School Research Grant, NTU | $4,994 |
| 2011 | Effects of regulatory fit and message positioning of healthy food consumption advertisements on behavioral outcomes and message recall on television: Implications for message design in health campaigns | PI | College Research Grant, NTU | $5,000 |
| 2011 | Desirable facial traits of organizational spokesperson: Portraying credibility, authority and respectability in a crisis | Co-PI | School Research Grant, NTU | $4,990 |
| 2010 | Preparedness versus paranoia: Examining the effects of over-communicating health crisis preparedness messages | Co-PI | School Research Grant, NTU | $4,950 |
| 2009 | H1N1 response in SE Asia: Implications for health communication | PI | Cluster Grant, NTU | $15,000 |
| 2007 | Social, health and regulatory issues in marketing communications | PI | Cluster Grant, NTU | $83,333 |
| 2006 | Information communication technology for health and society | PI | NTU | $81,695 |
| 2006 | Optimizing optical health communications: Social marketing approach | PI | NTU | $3,820 |
| 2004 | Privacy and consumer: Marketing issues and concerns | PI | NUS | $39,888 |
| 1999 | Public policy, ethics and marketing issues in international business | PI | NUS | $33,834 |
| 1998 | Advertising laws & standards of practice: Comparative analyses from a global perspective | PI | NUS | $5,500 |
| 1998 | The significance & symbolism of new age concepts in consumer marketing: Implications for global branding, promotions and pricing strategies | PI | NUS | $35,408 |