Dr Santosh Vijaykumar

Associate Professor

Department: Psychology

Santosh is a health and risk communication scientist with research interests at the intersection of public health, behavioural science and new media technologies.

Specifically, he studies mobile and social media interventions for addressing global health challenges with a focus on tropical and infectious diseases. Santosh’s research analyses and evaluates the effects of both, bespoke innovations (like crowdsourced surveillance applications) as well as generic platforms (like Twitter and Facebook) on individuals, communities and health systems during infectious disease outbreaks. The research approach involves mixed methodologies, trans-disciplinary conceptualization and collaborations with policymakers, activists and the industry. His work, spanning the US, Singapore, Sri Lanka and India, has been published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Journal of Medical Internet Research, Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and Journal of Nutrition Education and Behaviour among others.

Campus Address

Northumberland Building

Email Santosh

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Trust Erosion Framework for Organisational Responses to and Management of Global Emergencies, Eaddy, L., Vijaykumar, S., Jin, Y., Lu, X., Sharma, S., Raamkumar, A. 3 Apr 2025, In: Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management
Understanding How Privacy and Data Protection Perceptions Shape Nigerian Journalists’ Use of AI Tools, Tijani, O., Mahoney, J., Vijaykumar, S., Nicholson, J. 9 Apr 2025, Socio Technical Aspects in Security Workshop (STAST)
Animations to communicate public health prevention messages: a realist review protocol, McCorry, K., Maniatopoulos, G., Errington, L., Land, E., Craig, M., Vijaykumar, S., Bärnighausen, T., O'Brien, N. 9 Aug 2024, In: BMJ Open
Crisis Communication, Jin, Y., Vijaykumar, S. 2023, The International Encyclopedia of Health Communication, Hoboken, NJ, Blackwell Publishing
How do we differentiate not demonise – Is there a role for healthier processed foods in an age of food insecurity? Proceedings of a roundtable event, Lockyer, S., Spiro, A., Berry, S., He, J., Loth, S., Martinez‐Inchausti, A., Mellor, D., Raats, M., Sokolović, M., Vijaykumar, S., Stanner, S. 1 Jun 2023, In: Nutrition Bulletin
Influences of News and Social Media on Food Insecurity and Hoarding Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Charilaou, L., Vijaykumar, S. 2023, In: Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
One dose is not enough: the beneficial effect of corrective COVID-19 information is diminished if followed by misinformation, Craig, M., Vijaykumar, S. Apr 2023, In: Social Media and Society
Scaling and sustaining COVID-19 vaccination through meaningful community engagement and care coordination for underserved communities: hybrid type 3 effectiveness-implementation sequential multiple assignment randomized trial, Rabin, B., Cain, K., Watson Jr., P., Oswald, W., Laurent, L., Meadows, A., Seifert, M., Munoz, F., Salgin, L., Aldous, J., Diaz, E., Villodas, M., Vijaykumar, S., O’Leary, S., Stadnick, N. 14 Jul 2023, In: Implementation Science
Understanding contemporary infodemics through the risk amplification through media spread (rams) model, Vijaykumar, S., Jin, Y., Raamkumar, A. 31 Dec 2023, Communicating Risk and Safety, De Gruyter Mouton
Understanding older adults’ use of social technology and the factors influencing use, Wilson-Menzfeld, G., Gates, J., Vijaykumar, S., Morgan, D. 1 Jan 2023, In: Ageing and Society