Leah Li

Dr. Leah Li, also known as Xiufang (Leah) Li, is an active and innovative scholar in communication and media. She has extensive international experience in research, PhD supervision, and teaching across disciplines at universities in Australia, China, and Singapore. Leah has received prestigious awards in both global and Australian communication fields, including the ICA Top Faculty Paper Award in the Public Relations Division and the PRIA (now CPRA) Golden Target Award, Researcher of the Year (Gold Prize). The ICA (International Communication Association) is the premier global academic association for communication scholars, and the PRIA (now CPRA) Golden Target Awards are Australia's most esteemed industry awards for communication and public relations professionals.

        Leah’s research focuses on the intersection of public relations and digital communication, examining how organisations co-create values and meanings with diverse stakeholders through technology-aided strategic communication. Her work covers contexts such as sports, health, and place branding, featuring publications in prestigious journals - European Journal of Cultural Studies, PLOS ONE, Media International Australia, Global Media and China, and Public Relations Review, the highest-ranking journal in public relations and among the top six Q1 journals in communication. Leah actively collaborates with professional bodies, with a successful track record in leading research project design, securing competitive grants, and executing projects to completion. She serves on the editorial board of Public Relations Review and the Education and Community Committee of CPRA, extending her services to a wider community.

        Leah holds a PhD in International Communication and Media from Macquarie University. Before joining RMIT University, she taught at Macquarie University, the Sydney Institute of Business and Technology, and worked as an Associate Professor in Digital Media and Communication at universities in China, including Guangzhou University. She also served as Program Manager for the former Bachelor of Communication (Public Relations) program at RMIT University. Her goal is to leverage her ongoing commitment to excellent research and teaching to support communities in achieving an inclusive and sustainable future. In her spare time, she enjoys playing sports.

Industry experience:
In the early years of Leah’s career, she worked in the media and corporate sectors in the areas of business analysis, media production, market research, brand and reputation management, and user behaviours.

Awarded grants and projects:

As Chief/Principal Investigator

• Building Trust: Exploring AI and Ethical Practices in the Property Profession. The APREF Research Grants.
• Digital Forums for Older Australians: Engaging Virtual Communities for Social Support and Digital Health Literacy. auDA Community Grant.
• Communicating to CALD Communities: Best Practice Engagement to Connect with Digitally Excluded Groups. AusNet Vulnerability Research Grant.
• Building Digital Health Networks: Virtual Communities in Offering Social Support. RMIT EIP Platform Activity Funding.
• Perceived and Be Perceived: Examining the City Branding of Qingdao and Melbourne through a Security Paradigm in the Context of the Rocky Chinese Australian Relations. The ASSA-CASS Joint Action Program Research Grant.
• Disaster and Emergency Management in the Mobile Age. Humanities and Social Science Research Ministry of Education of China.
• Mobile Technology and Social Media in National Disaster Management. Guangdong Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences.
• Online Mortgage Loan Analysis and Mobile Marketing Strategies. CoreLogic RP Data.
• User Behaviours and Online and Offline TV Program Development at the Guangdong Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). The GBC.
• Branding Guangzhou Overseas in the New Media Landscape. Guangzhou Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences.
• Internet and New Media Research Methods. Guangzhou University.
• Program of Introducing Talents of Disciplines Overseas to the University. Guangzhou University.
• Use of Social Media in Communicating Mining Disasters to the Public. Scientific Research Foundation for Returned Scholars.
• Public Opinion towards China in Australia. The Centre for International Communication Study in Beijing.
• Macquarie University Postgraduate Research Fund.

As Co-Investigator:

• Building Research Capability through Design Thinking Pedagogy. RMIT EIP Platform Activity Funding.
• Communication Design Using Algorithm, Automated Bot, and Platforms in Nation Branding. The National Social Science Fund of China.
• Communicating President Xi’s Socialist Core Values in the Digital Space. Ministry of Publicity Guangdong.
• Enhancement of Journalism’s Degree Program in the New Media Age. Guangdong Academy of Education.
• Production of a TV Show Based on Linda Thomson’s Harry the Hypno-potamus. Guangzhou University.
• Internet Use and Addiction among the Youth in Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Guangdong Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences.
• Public Opinion towards China in We Media. Shanghai Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences.
• The Pacific Media Assistance Scheme at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The ABC.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6404-5916

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xiufang-leah-li-b2aa2517b/?originalSubdomain=au

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=H4MBnC0AAAAJ&hl=en