Dr Santosh Vijaykumar

Senior Lecturer and Public Engagement Lead, Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, UK; Digital Economy Ambassador,CHERISH-DE Crucible Programme

Santosh Vijaykumar is Senior Lecturer and Public Engagement Lead in the Department of Psychology at Northumbria University, UK, and Digital Economy Ambassador for the CHERISH-DE Crucible Programme. He 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.