This episode's guest is Professor Heidi J. Larson, the Director of The Vaccine Confidence Project. She is a professor of Anthropology, Risk and Decision Science at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, Seattle; and at the University of Antwerp and KU Leuven, Belgium. Her research focuses on managing risk and building trust in vaccines, vaccine trials and building cooperation in the context of disease outbreaks and pandemics.
Prof. Larson previously headed Global Immunization Communication at UNICEF, chaired
Gavi’s Advocacy Task Force, and served on the WHO SAGE Working Group on vaccine
hesitancy. She is the author of STUCK: How Vaccine Rumors Start – and Why They Don’t Go Away (Oxford University Press, 2020). In 2021 she was named by BBC as one of the 100 most
influential women in the world and was awarded the 2021 Edinburgh Medal for her work.
Show Notes & Links Of Interest
Introduction and Bio [00:20]
Question: How does Dr. Larson describe herself and her career? [02:17]
Question: How did her childhood influence who she is today? [06:30]
Question: What were some of the hardest things she had to overcome on her journey to success and how did she handle them? [08:51]
Question: During her career did she feel being a woman was an advantage or disadvantage? [14:22]
Women Leaders in Global Health [17:18]
Question: Did she have any mentors or role models that she felt helped her during her career? [18:31]
Margaret Mead [18:56]
Robert Coles [19:35]
Question: What methods has she used to fight self-doubt and to deal with failures? [24:23]
Question: Is it more importance to focus on improving people’s confidence on vaccines versus the science behind vaccines? [27:03]
Question: Does she feel the experience of COVID-19 will better prepare the world for its next pandemic? [28:31]
Link: 2023 UNICEF’s State of the World Childrens Report [29:22]
Question: Why did the 18-34 year old demographic have some of the biggest drops in confidence around the COVID vaccine? [33:23]
Question: What one quality or trait does she feel young girls should embrace when pursuing their dreams? [36:22]
Wrap up [36:57]
Heidi Larson’s Bio
Professor Heidi J. Larson is the Director of The Vaccine Confidence Project (https://www.vaccineconfidence.org). She is a professor of Anthropology, Risk and Decision Science at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, Seattle; and at the University of Antwerp and KU Leuven, Belgium. Her research focuses on managing risk and building trust in vaccines, vaccine trials and building cooperation in the context of disease outbreaks and pandemics.
Prof. Larson previously headed Global Immunization Communication at UNICEF, chaired
Gavi’s Advocacy Task Force, and served on the WHO SAGE Working Group on vaccine
hesitancy. She is the author of STUCK: How Vaccine Rumors Start – and Why They Don’t Go Away (Oxford University Press, 2020). In 2021 she was named by BBC as one of the 100 most
influential women in the world and was awarded the 2021 Edinburgh Medal for her work.
Hosts
