OxTalks is Changing
OxTalks will soon be transitioning to Oxford Events (full details are available on the Staff Gateway). A two-week publishing freeze is expected in early Hilary to allow all events to be migrated to the new platform. During this period, you will not be able to submit or edit events on OxTalks. The exact freeze dates will be confirmed as soon as possible.
If you have any questions, please contact halo@digital.ox.ac.uk
Oliver Smithies Lecture: 'Agency and Preference: Attitudes Toward Vaccination and Epidemic Risks'
Public debates about vaccination often turn on evidence and persuasion, yet beneath these lie deeper differences in how people prefer to make health decisions. This lecture examines how such decision-making preferences—whether one leans toward autonomy or authority, caution or intervention—shape vaccination attitudes and behaviours. Drawing on empirical evidence from large-scale surveys, I show how preferences complement more familiar factors such as risk perception and social norms. Recognizing these patterns helps explain why communication strategies resonate with some audiences but not others. I then turn to the broader implications: when individual preferences aggregate, they influence vaccine uptake and, in turn, the dynamics of epidemics. Linking psychology and epidemiology, the lecture offers a richer view of agency in public health.
Date:
27 November 2025, 17:15
Venue:
Balliol College, Broad Street OX1 3BJ
Venue Details:
Gillis Lecture theatre
Speaker:
Professor John Drake (Oliver Smithies Visiting Fellow)
Organiser contact email address:
college.office@balliol.ox.ac.uk
Booking required?:
Recommended
Booking email:
college.office@balliol.ox.ac.uk
Audience:
Public
Editor:
Genny Teague
