Cynthia-Lou Coleman specializes in mass communication theory and research, and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses at Portland State. Prof. Coleman's research focuses on mass media and communication of health, risk and environmental concerns, and she is particularly interested in how these issues impact American Indians.

Prof. Coleman and master's graduate Erin Dysart researched news coverage of the 9,300 year-old skeleton called Kennewick Man, and their findings were published recently in the journal Science Communication. Prof. Coleman has also written about Native concerns and values for books edited by Clifford Christians and Elizabeth Bird. In 2006 Coleman was named editor of the Northwest Communication Association Journal, which joins more than 1,000 periodicals indexed by Ebscohost.

She has studied direct-to-consumer advertising and medical communication, and has written for the journals Media, Culture and Society; Communication Research; Risk Analysis; Health Communication; and Public Relations Quarterly. She has also written opinion-editorials for the Portland Oregonian.