Professor Heidi LarsonAcademic

Biography

Professor Heidi J. Larson is an anthropologist and Founding Director of The Vaccine Confidence Project (VCP), and Professor of Anthropology, Risk and Decision Science in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). The VCP, established by Larson in 2010 at LSHTM, is a WHO Centre of Excellence and the first research group to map and monitor public confidence in vaccination at a global scale. Her research focuses on the analysis of social and political factors affecting uptake of health interventions, with particular interest in risk and rumour management and building public trust. She previously headed Global Immunisation Communication at UNICEF, chaired Gavi's Advocacy Task Force, and served on the WHO SAGE Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy. She authored an expert report for the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry on vaccine hesitancy and confidence, and is co-leading the Lancet Commission on rethinking misinformation, health, and human security, launched in 2026. She is author of STUCK: How Vaccine Rumors Start — and Why They Don't Go Away (Oxford University Press, 2020).

References

1. 1.The Vaccine Confidence Project — official website — Establishes Larson as Founder and Director of the VCP; describes the VCP's founding in 2010 at LSHTM and its mission; references the Lancet Commission on misinformation.
2. 2.Heidi Larson — LSHTM staff profile — Confirms her role as Professor of Anthropology, Risk and Decision Science and Director of the Vaccine Confidence Project at LSHTM.
3. 3.Expert Report for the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry — Module 4, December 2024 — Evidences Larson's expert witness contribution to the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry on vaccine hesitancy and confidence.
4. 4.Professor Heidi J. Larson named one of BBC's 100 Women of 2021 — IHME — Confirms BBC 100 Women 2021 recognition; summarises her career background including founding of VCP and book authorship.

Expertise

Cited on

• Learning disability & autism
• Public health & prevention

Stated areas of expertise

• Vaccine hesitancy and confidence
• Health misinformation and disinformation
• Public trust in science and health
• Immunisation policy
• Risk and rumour management
• Global health anthropology

Notable achievements

• Founded the Vaccine Confidence Project at LSHTM in 2010, the first research group dedicated to mapping and monitoring public confidence in vaccination globally, now a WHO Centre of Excellence. Source ↗
• Authored expert report for the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry (Module 4: Vaccines and Therapeutics) on vaccine hesitancy and confidence during the Covid-19 pandemic, submitted December 2024. Source ↗
• Named to the BBC 100 Women List 2021 in recognition of her work on global vaccine hesitancy and building public trust during the COVID-19 pandemic. Source ↗
• Co-leading the Lancet Commission on rethinking misinformation, health, and human security, launched June 2026. Source ↗
• Published STUCK: How Vaccine Rumors Start — and Why They Don't Go Away (Oxford University Press, 2020), a book on the drivers and social dynamics of vaccine hesitancy. Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “From 2019 to 2021 the US acted as 'a major exporter of Covid-19 vaccine misinformation, with American accounts disproportionately represented as central hubs in global misinformation networks'.”

  Professor of anthropology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine · Learning disability & autism · 27 Aug 2026 · ‘Don’t trust Trump’: how UK health experts are fighting back against a war on medicine ↗

• “The combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine is among the best-studied vaccines in modern medicine. Decades of research involving millions of children across many countries have consistently shown that it is safe, effective, and provides strong protection against three serious infectious diseases.”

  Representative for The Vaccine Confidence Project · Public health & prevention · 27 Aug 2026 · A collective statement on confidence in childhood vaccination ↗

Source references

1. ‘Don’t trust Trump’: how UK health experts are fighting back against a war on medicinetheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. A collective statement on confidence in childhood vaccinationcochrane.org · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.lshtm.ac.uk/aboutus/people/larson.heidipublished here ↗
• Websitehttps://www.vaccineconfidence.org/
• LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-larson-07b535119/

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.