Heidi Larson, Vaccine Trust Anthropologist, studies rumors. With today’s technology, information is at our fingertips; at the same time, misinformation spreads like wildfire. While working across the globe on global Polio eradication, Heidi noticed the consequential impact of vaccine distrust and medical rumors. In response, she created the Vaccine Confidence Project, an interdisciplinary, global initiative that studies rumor dissemination across countries, communities, and social networks to better understand medical misinformation. While vaccines are surrounded by “political and social turbulence,” Heidi argues that the problem is not misinformation, but rather the lack of relationships around trusted health information.

Heidi believes that we can inspire trust in medicine, particularly around vaccines, by building a health system that is empathetic and reciprocal. Watch Heidi’s Talk, “Rumors, trust and vaccines" now on TEDMED.com.