A new APPC survey finds a small but significant drop in public willingness to recommend the MMR vaccine to someone in their household.
Science communication
Claims about Autism, Inflation, and Ukraine Lead FactCheck.org’s Whoppers of 2025
FactCheck.org released its list of the top falsehoods in American politics of 2025, featuring claims about health, the economy, the war in Ukraine, and more.
Cases of Whooping Cough Remain High, but Knowledge About the Disease Still Low
A new APPC survey reveals a lack of knowledge among the public about what pertussis (whooping cough) is and what its symptoms are.
New White Paper Analyzes U.S. Vaccine Safety Monitoring System and Suggests Improvements
In an APPC white paper, biostatistician and Penn Professor Jeffrey Morris analyzes the U.S. vaccine safety monitoring system and offers ways to improve VAERS and other components.
Although Public Overwhelmingly Supports Hepatitis B Vaccine for a Newborn, Partisan Differences Exist
Most Americans would be likely to recommend the hepatitis B vaccine for a newborn, according to a new APPC survey.
New HIV Mapping Tool Helps Public Health Workers Track and Predict HIV Outbreaks
Researchers from Penn's Social Action Lab, including PIK Professor Dolores Albarracín, have created a tool to help public health workers predict HIV outbreaks.
Americans More Likely to Accept Guidance from AMA than CDC on Vaccine Safety
By a 2-1 margin, Americans are more likely to accept guidance on vaccine safety from the American Medical Association (AMA) than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an Annenberg survey finds.
‘Mental Model’ Approach Shows Promise in Reducing Susceptibility to Misconceptions About mRNA Vaccination
Showing people a "mental model" of scientific concepts may help undercut vaccine-related misconceptions, according to new APPC research published in PNAS.
Brain Activity Reveals What Makes Persuasive Messages Stick
A study by the Communication Neuroscience Lab and others finds that activity in brain regions associated with reward and social processing can predict messages' effectiveness.