New People at the Department
Anna Staender
Anna Staender re-joined IKMZ in February 2026 in a new role as a Study Programs Coordinator. In this role, succeeding Stefanie Hangartner, she is responsible for the IKMZ BA and MA program development, curriculum planning, quality assurance, examination delegation, as well as advising and communicating with lecturers, students, and the Dean’s Office.
Prior to this position, Anna served as a Scientific Collaboration Officer at the international science body IPIE (International Panel on the Information Environment), where she managed publication processes, member recruitment, and coordinated the work of the Ethics, Membership, and Science and Methodology Standing Committees.
Before that, Anna pursued an academic path. She holds a doctoral degree (PhD) from IKMZ and focused her dissertation on the question of what makes information environments vulnerable to the spread of misinformation. In addition to her PhD, Anna also completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at IKMZ and is looking forward to (re)connecting with everyone.
We are delighted to welcome Anna Staender back to the IKMZ team!
Lara Kobilke
Lara Kobilke will return to IKMZ in April 2026 as a Lecturer in Digital Health Communication. She earned her PhD from the University of Zurich in 2022, focusing on the effects of exposure to counter-attitudinal viewpoints on political participation. She also holds degrees in Communication Science, German Literature, and Law from LMU Munich. Prior to her current role, she served as a Visiting Professor at the Hanover University of Music, Drama, and Media.
As a resistance researcher, Lara specializes in psychological reactance within the contexts of health, planetary health, and political communication. Her work explores how individuals respond to perceived threats to their freedom, addressing contemporary "wicked problems" such as vaccine hesitancy, soil health communication, and the dynamics of polarized discourse. Additionally, she investigates the social implications of TikTok challenges for youth engagement and well-being.
Beyond her theoretical expertise, Lara is committed to computational transparency and methodological innovation. She co-developed the R package tidycomm and is a strong advocate for Open Science. At IKMZ, she will actively contribute to the development and expansion of the department’s research infrastructure, while continuing to design educational resources to make advanced computational methods more accessible to the research community.
We are delighted to welcome Lara Kobilke back to the IKMZ team!
Freya Sukalla
Freya Sukalla will be joining IKMZ in April 2026 as a senior research & teaching associate at the Media Use and Effects research group. Previously, Freya (PhD, University of Augsburg) worked at Leipzig University. Last semester she held an interim professor position at Ludwig-Maximimilians-University Munich. Her research spans media processing and effects in the context of entertainment, health and environmental communication. Her recent work focuses on stigmatization, examining prosocial effects of narratives as well as how social media and new health technologies can be used to promote health and well-being.
We warmly welcome Freya Sukalla as a new member of the IKMZ team!