Dr. Russell B. Clayton is Associate Professor and Founding Director of the Cognition and Emotion Lab (CEL) in the School of Communication. His primary research examines how people cognitively and emotionally interact with and respond to various media and technologies utilizing psychophysiological, behavioral, self-report, and memory measures. The goal of his research is to provide recommendations into how media content and technologies can be used to advance human health and wellness. Dr. Clayton has worked with the Institute for Successful Longevity as a Co-Investigator on the institute’s project, Human Factors Guidelines to Develop Education Tip Cards for Aging Road Users, for the Florida Department of Transportation. His work has been published in leading journals including the Journal of Communication; Media Psychology; Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication; Health Communication; and Communication Monographs, among others.

He was recently named an Emerging Scholar by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC).Dr. Clayton earned his B.S. in Psychology in 2010 and M.A. in Health Psychology in 2012, both from Texas State University. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri in 2015.