Dr. Heidi Larson currently leads a team at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine studying issues around public trust in vaccines and the implications for immunization programmes and policies.
Dr. Larson previously headed Global Communication for Immunization at UNICEF and Chaired the Advocacy Task Force for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI). Her research specializes in the analysis and evaluation of health and development programmes with particular attention to social and political factors which can affect policies and programmes. Her particular focus is on risk and rumour management in health programmes and technologies, especially vaccines- from clinical trials to delivery – and building public trust. Publications include “Public Health Response to Influenza A(H1N1) as an Opportunity to Build Public Trust” in JAMA (January 2010) and “Protecting Public Trust in Immunization” in Pediatrics (2008).
Dr Larson is also a Research Associate at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies and a Fellow at the Chatham House Centre on Global Health Security.
