Jonah Hancock

Information behavior, health informatics, human-information interaction, AI-mediated mental health support, information policy, health communication, and social informatics.

My work began with a pattern I saw as an outreach volunteer with the Florida Harm Reduction Initiative: people making health decisions without reliable, research-backed information. When it comes to experimental treatments or substances of uncertain purity, there are no labels, trials or clinicians to turn to, so people turn to each other and build their own community information resources online.

I study how people seek, evaluate and communicate about emerging and experimental therapies, and how emerging information technologies and information systems can best support them. I work with populations that often face stigma, including people with opioid use disorder and people with mental health challenges. My methods are mostly qualitative, with thematic content analysis at the core, alongside survey methods and a growing set of computational social science skills.

Dissertation

My dissertation looks at how people seek and share information about emerging and experimental therapies, from three levels. Defense is expected in spring 2027.

• Policy. An analysis of how US policy narrows the information available about emerging and experimental therapies, through criminalization, funding and information restrictions, and limits on distribution channels.
• First responders. A study of the information needs of first responders, who are often a person's first contact with the medical system, and whether policy restrictions shape what they know.
• Online communities. A content analysis of an online community where people discuss where to source experimental treatments, which asks what people need to know when that topic is open for discussion.

Current directions

Self-stigma and health information seeking, using Elfreda Chatman's theory of information poverty as a lens. In our Kensington, Philadelphia study, higher self-stigma went with higher scores on overdose risk scales.

How guided and unguided conversation design in AI chatbots affects people's immediate responses in mental health support, and whether a chatbot's relative anonymity can lower the barrier to asking for help.

The barriers public library patrons face when looking for health and recovery information and programs.

Full list and citation counts on Google Scholar.

Journal articles

• Sullivan, M., & Hancock, J. (2026). The effect of self-stigma on the health information-seeking behavior of the opioid use disorder population in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. Journal of Documentation, 82(2), 291–304. doi.org/10.1108/JD-05-2025-0130
• Sullivan, M., Hancock, J., Shaw, G., & Ni, C. (2024). Health information-seeking on Reddit, by people who use opioids. Information Research, 29(2), 109–125. doi.org/10.47989/ir292565

Under review

• Wan, Y., Lee, A., & Hancock, J. (2026). Guided versus unguided conversational design in AI-mediated mental health support: Effects on immediate user responses.

Conference presentations

• Hancock, J. (2026). Opioid use disorder among patrons of public libraries: Needle exposure, stigma, and overdose risk. Poster, Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) Annual Conference, Buffalo, NY.
• Wan, Y., Lee, A., & Hancock, J. (2025). Using an AI chatbot to help decrease depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms. Poster, National Communication Association 111th Annual Convention, Denver, CO.
• Sullivan, M., & Hancock, J. (2025). The effect of self-stigma on the health information-seeking behavior of the opioid use disorder population in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. Poster, ASIS&T 88th Annual Meeting, Arlington, VA.
• Sullivan, M., Hancock, J., & Oh, S. (2024). The effect of internalized stigma on the health information-seeking behaviors of people with opioid use disorder. Poster, ASIS&T 87th Annual Meeting, Calgary, AB, Canada.

I teach so that students grow in the classroom and after it. I build on social constructivism: students learn by connecting new ideas to ones they already hold, so I get to know them first and use small-group discussion to let them work through ideas and build confidence before speaking to the whole class. When I can't answer a question, I say, “I’m not sure, but let’s find out together.”

My research on stigma shapes how I teach. Students who expect to be judged don't ask questions in front of others, so I work to make asking safe. In my networking courses, students design a network for a small business and present it, using tools such as Packet Tracer, VeraCrypt and Wireshark.

Lead instructor, Florida State University

• LIS 4482Introduction to Networks and Telecommunications
• LIS 4488Network Administration for the Information Professional

Teaching assistant, Florida State University, 2021–present

• IDS 2141Innovation and Emerging Technologies
• LIS 3353Information Technologies
• LIS 4482Introduction to Networks and Telecommunications
• LIS 4488Network Administration for the Information Professional
• LIS 4776Advanced Health Informatics
• LIS 5484Introduction to Data Networks for Information Professionals
• LIS 5489Network Administration
• LIS 5631Health Information Sources
• LIS 5786Introduction to Information Architecture

Education

PhD in Information, Florida State University

Defense expected spring 2027
Emphasis on digital health, health information behavior and technology-mediated communication. Committee: Marcia Mardis (chair), Margaret Sullivan, Min-Sook Park, Russell Clayton. Esther Maglathlin Doctoral Research Scholarship.

M.S. in Information Technology, Florida State University

2022
With a Graduate Certificate in Information Architecture.

B.S. in Computer Information Systems, Louisiana Tech University

2019
Loraine N. Howard Endowed Scholarship.

Appointments and fellowships

Doctoral Fellow, Public Health Information Science Initiative

2026
University of British Columbia, School of Population and Public Health

Research Coordinator, Information Institute

2026
Florida State University

Skills

R, Python and SPSS for analysis. Qualtrics for surveys. Figma and Canva for design. Windows Server, Wireshark, Packet Tracer, VeraCrypt and PGP for networking and encryption. Canvas for course delivery.

Conference manuscript reviewer

ASIS&T Annual Meeting 2026 and iConference 2027

Personnel Committee, School of Information

2025–2026
Florida State University

Community outreach volunteer, Florida Harm Reduction Initiative

2021–2025
Distributed harm reduction supplies in the Tallahassee community and helped people find and meet their wider health and information needs. This work grounds my research.