Tell us about your current research

I'm an Assistant Professor with the Vaccine Confidence Project, leading its European research activities. My expertise lies in social and behavioural science, and I conduct qualitative research to explore the complex factors that shape people’s confidence, trust, and decision-making regarding vaccines. Lately, my focus has been on HPV and maternal vaccinations and the influence of individual-level factors like emotions (such as fear or hope), social and community influences, and broader contextual elements, including the impact of politics, social media environments, or global events like pandemics.

I'm part of a larger team that examines vaccine confidence from various angles, addressing the multidisciplinary aspects of the field globally. Among many topics, we explore how rumours and misinformation on digital media affect public perception, conduct global surveys to track confidence levels and trends, and develop interventions using AI and new technologies to tackle the complexities of vaccine confidence.

A significant part of my work also involves education, specifically teaching about vaccine confidence. I’m excited to announce that our inaugural short course on vaccine confidence, developed in collaboration with the University of Antwerp, will be launched this summer.

How did you first become interested in vaccines?

My interest in vaccination started during my Master’s program at LSHTM, where I was studying Control of Infectious Diseases. During the course, I noticed a gap in vaccination-related content, until I attended a lecture by Prof Heidi Larson, the director of the Vaccine Confidence Project. She discussed the global challenges of vaccine confidence, and I was captivated by how public health and health behaviours are shaped by psychological, emotional, and social influences. I joined her research group shortly after graduating, and did a PhD on HPV vaccine decision-making among adolescents in France.

Why did you decide to join the Vaccine Centre?

I decided to join the Vaccine Centre right after I started working at LSHTM, about ten years ago. I’ve always been impressed with the school’s research on vaccines and wanted to be in the loop with all the work being done in this area.

Since last year, I’ve also been part of the management committee. I really enjoy planning events about vaccine confidence and trust, bringing in speakers from our network to share their latest research and ideas. I’m currently helping put together an event on the 30th of April about ‘Health promotion and vaccination in the age of social media: insights from the frontline’. We hope it will be an insightful session with guests from social media platforms, the UK Health Security Agency, and ‘scientist influencers’. Everyone’s welcome to join us, either online or in person.

What do you find particularly exciting working as a member of the Vaccine Centre?

Working as a member of the Vaccine Centre is exciting because vaccination itself is such a multi-disciplinary field. Vaccine research stretches across all faculties at LSHTM, and keeping up with everything going on can sometimes be challenging. The Vaccine Centre serves as a hub, bringing together experts from across the school. This helps in staying connected with the latest research and developments and opens up opportunities for collaboration that I might not have considered before. Plus, the events we organise are something I always look forward to, with guest keynote speakers who are leading minds in their fields. It’s this mix of staying informed, networking, and the constant flow of new ideas that makes working at the Vaccine Centre really interesting.

Where do you think your research will take you/ how do you expect you work to develop?

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been a lot more attention paid to vaccine confidence. Unfortunately, we've seen confidence drop in many places, especially among younger people. It’s clear we’ve got a lot to learn from the mistakes made and there's a lot of work ahead in getting ready for any future pandemics. One thing I'm interested in is how much trust in governments plays a role into people’s feelings and perceptions about vaccines. The pandemic showed us that the way governments handle things like vaccine mandates or passports can make a big difference in how much people trust vaccines. And with populist parties gaining ground in many places — parties that often push back against vaccines — it’s going to be interesting to see how this affects vaccine attitudes across different stages of life, not just for routine childhood vaccination but also for adult vaccinations. I would love to work further on these areas, trying to understand the bigger picture and how vaccination plays a role within it. Vaccine confidence might seem solely related to vaccines, but in reality, it encompasses much more. Given the increasing trust issues across different areas, such as climate change, it's vital to see how these factors are interlinked.

What are some of the real-life implications of your work?

When I talk about my work outside academia, I often hear, ‘How can I get my husband/family/friend to agree to vaccination?’ It shows the real-world side of what we do and how common it is for people to question vaccination. Even with all the research we have pointing to the benefits of vaccines, conversations about vaccination can be really tricky. I’ve faced this personally, avoiding discussions about vaccination with my husband's family who believes in homeopathy and can be quite sceptical about vaccines. It’s a tough conversation and highlights why we need to be good at communicating and really understanding where people are coming from while remaining respectful and showing empathy. We must be careful not to polarise or stigmatise people as vaccine-hesitant or 'antivaxxers' and acknowledge that it's completely normal for people to have questions about vaccination. In today's world, where information is abundant, too much information can be confusing, and people need help to navigate through it. In our work, we try to figure out the best ways to connect with and engage people about the importance of vaccines, using what we learn to build better strategies for talking about these issues.

What do you like doing in your spare time?

In the rare moments I find for myself, I'm usually deep in the world of toddler management – researching evidence-based practices for the best potty training methods or figuring out the secret to a full night's sleep. More seriously, when I’m not working, I enjoy finding new activities to spend time with my two-year-old and my husband: last weekend, we tried to cook together, which turned into a taste test session where he tried to sample everything before it even hit his plate. Now that the weather is getting better, we love exploring the outdoors too, going for walks or cycling – although we usually don’t get very far as he absolutely has to collect every single rock or flower he spots. I usually end up more tired on Sunday evenings than at the end of my working week!

How can people get/ stay in touch with you?

Email: emilie.karafillakis@lshtm.ac.uk