IRIS Academic Research Group

The EPREP Program at Harvard Chan School is a co-founder of the IRIS Coalition, a collaborative network of faculty from seven universities, including the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the University of Cambridge, Sapienza University of Rome, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, the City University of London, and Kings College London, working together to understand infodemics and promote healthy information ecosystems.

IRIS Academic is a collaborative project founded by some of the world’s leading researchers and institutions who are driving cutting-edge research and multidisciplinary methodologies across four topic pillars: susceptibility to misinformation, interventions to counter misinformation, vaccine hesitancy, and managing infodemics.

Within each of these pillars, the researchers are working to identify and define measures, drivers and solutions that help understand relationships between susceptibility to misinformation, the spread of misinformation, vaccine hesitancy, and effective interventions to protect people from misinformation.

IRIS Academic’s research strategy is structured around three stages: learn, engage, and act. In the Learn phase, the focus is on utilizing advanced network and data science techniques to analyze the nature of infodemics, particularly regarding COVID-19 and vaccine hesitancy. The Engage stage involves applying psychological theories to create and evaluate digital interventions aimed at diminishing vulnerability to vaccine misinformation. Lastly, the Act phase concentrates on developing evidence-based, strategic communication strategies to enhance global preparedness for both epidemics and infodemics.

Recent Publications from the Team: