Jeanine Guidry-Drost PhD

Bio

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Cognition at Tilburg University. As a behavioral scientist, my research focuses on health communication and health behavior interventions, particularly as they relate to (1) infectious diseases and vaccine hesitancy,  (2) chronic diseases such as Long COVID and cancer, and (3) health-related online misinformation. More specifically, I study (1) how people think and feel about vaccine-preventable diseases  and vaccines, and how those thoughts influence their decisions and behavior, (2) how chronic disease patients process information and how their experiences with healthcare providers affect their quality of life , and (3) how health-related online misinformation is found, spread, and processed by people and how the consequences of this can best be addressed.

Expertise

I have extensive experience in online vaccine misinformation research focused on childhood diseases, the flu, HPV, Zika, Ebola, and COVID-19 on social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter, and was the first researcher to study vaccine misinformation on Pinterest. Pinterest has since confirmed that my first author paper in Vaccine ("On pins and needles") was one of the primary reasons for them to change their policy regarding vaccine-related posts on their platform in 2019.  From the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic I have focused on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, acceptance of COVID-19 prevention recommendations, and misinformation related to COVID-19. In addition I work on studies focusing on improving quality of life for Long COVID patients. 

Courses

• Health Communication
• RS: Survey (Fall)

Collaboration

I regularly speak at public webinars organized by public health entities such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and have used my research to help guide universities coordinate their infectious disease prevention initiatives. I regularly participate in invited think tanks focused on vaccine hesitancy with the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, the American Public Health Association, and the CDC, and collaborate with more than 20 other researchers from a wide variety of disciplines such as public health, health psychology, infectious disease management, computer science, and sociology in the United States, the Netherlands, and Italy.

Highlights

• October 6, 2022 – Salon: Why some evangelical Christians trust their pastors more than their doctors on vaccines
  https://www.salon.com/2022/10/06/evangelicals-vaccines/
• April 25, 2021 – Vogue: One overlooked cause for vaccine hesitancy? A fear of needles. https://www.vogue.com/article/covid-19-vaccine-hesitancy-fear-of-needles
• February 25, 2021 – WTVR/CBS – The Doctor is In: Benefits of Taking the COVID-19 Vaccine https://www.wtvr.com/on-air/virginia-this-morning/benefits-of-taking-the-covid-19-vaccine

Recent publications

1. #EndtheSTIgma: An Exploratory Analysis of the 2019 HPV Awareness Day …

   Coman, I. A., Bazaa, U., Guidry, J. P. D., & Miller, C. A. (2024). #EndtheSTIgma: An Exploratory Analysis of the 2019 HPV Awareness Day Conversation on Twitter & Instagram. Health Communication, 39(5), 927-936.

2. Promotion of an Algorithm-Based Tool for Pregnancy Prevention by Inst…

   Laestadius, L. I., Van Hoorn, K., Wahl, M., Witt, A., Carlyle, K. E., & Guidry, J. P. D. (2024). Promotion of an Algorithm-Based Tool for Pregnancy Prevention by Instagram Influencers. Journal of women's health (2002), 33(2), 141-151.

3. Adding COVID to Cancer - Does Cancer Status Influence COVID-19 Infect…

   Miller, C. A., Guidry, J. P. D., Perrin, P. B., Carlyle, K. E., Sheppard, V. B., & Fuemmeler, B. F. (2024). Adding COVID to Cancer: Does Cancer Status Influence COVID-19 Infection Preventive Behaviors? Journal of Preventive Medicine and Hygiene, 65(1), 4-10. Article 65.

4. Barriers and Facilitators of Colorectal Cancer Screening During the C…

   Miller, C. A., Guidry, J. P. D., Kenning, K. L., Bohl, J. L., Fuemmeler, B. F., & Rivet, E. B. (2024). Barriers and Facilitators of Colorectal Cancer Screening During the COVID-19 Pandemic. The American surgeon, 31348241227216. Advance online publication.

5. Pandemic coping and COVID-19 preventive behaviors among cancer surviv…

   Guidry, J. P. D., Carrie A. Miller, Paul Perrin, Kellie E. Carlyle, Matthew W. Savage, Vanessa B. Sheppard, & Bernard F. Fuemmeler (2023). Pandemic coping and COVID-19 preventive behaviors among cancer survivors. Patient Education and Counseling, 112, Article 107716.