Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Rupali Limaye, PhD ’12, MPH, MA, studies how health information can best be communicated to individuals in different contexts and through different channels.
Research Interests
vaccine demand; vaccine hesitancy; vaccine acceptance; misinformation; risk communication; health behavior change; infectious diseases
Experiences & Accomplishments
Rupali J. Limaye, PhD, MPH, MA, is an Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in the Departments of International Health, Epidemiology, and Health, Behavior and Society. She also serves as the Associate Chair for Research for the Department of International Health. An expert in vaccine behavior and decision-making, including vaccine hesitancy and acceptance, she serves as the Deputy Director of the International Vaccine Access Center.
Primarily focusing on infectious diseases, Dr. Limaye is a social and behavioral scientist and health communication scholar. Her mixed-method work examines how various influences affect health behavior and how to leverage those influences to affect positive behavior change. She also studies how health information can best be communicated to individuals in different contexts and through different channels. In her 20 years of working in global health, she has worked in more than 30 countries from both research and implementation perspectives, on topics including immunization, family planning, HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, and alcohol, and teaches classes on global disease program and policies, misinformation, health behavior change, and persuasive communication.
She received her PhD from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She also holds an MPH in global health, an MA in international affairs, a BA in political science, and a BS in journalism.
Honors & Awards
- Full Tuition Scholarship, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (2008-2012)
- Top Four Paper Award, Health Communication Division, International Communication Association (2010)
- Special Projects Award, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (2010; 2011)
- Dean’s Teaching Fellowship, Zanvyl School of Arts & Sciences, Johns Hopkins University (2010-2011)
- Field Research Award, Center for Global Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (2010-2011)
- Predoctoral Training Grant, National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Disease, National Institutes of Health (2010-2012)
- Outstanding Teacher Award Nominee, Department of Health, Behavior & Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (2013-2014)
- Outstanding Teacher Award, Department of Health, Behavior & Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (2014-2015)
- Excellence in Teaching, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (2014-2015)
- Lipitz Public Health Policy Faculty Award, Johns Hopkins Institute for Health and Social Policy (2018-2019)
- Excellence in Teaching, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (2019-2020)
- Discovery Award, Johns Hopkins University Office of the Provost (2021)
- Excellence in Teaching, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (2021-2022)
- Excellence in Teaching, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (2022-2023)
Select Publications
Selected recent publications:
Limaye, R.J., Paul, A., Gur-Arie, R., Zavala, E., Lee, C., Fesshaye, B., Singh, P., Njagi, W., Odila, P., Munyao, P., Njogu, R., Mutwiwa, S., Noguchi, L., Morgan, C., & Karron, R. (In press). A socio-ecological exploration to identify factors influencing the COVID-19 vaccine decision-making process among pregnant and lactating women: Findings from Kenya. Vaccine.
Limaye, R. J., Balgobin, K., Michel, A., Schulz, G., & Erchick, D. J. (2022). What message appeal and messenger are most persuasive for COVID-19 vaccine uptake: Results from a 5-country survey in India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Ukraine. PloS one, 17(9), e0274966.
Omer, S. B., O’Leary, S.T., Bednarczyk, R.A., Ellingson, M.K., Spina, C.I., Dudley, M.Z., Chamberlain, A.T., Limaye, R.J., Brewer, S.E., Frew, P.M., Malik, F.A., Orenstein, W., Halsey, N., Ault, K., Salmon, D.A. (2022). Multi-tiered intervention to increase maternal immunization coverage: A randomized, controlled trial. Vaccine. 40(34), 4955-4963.
Dudley, M.Z., Halsey, N., Omer, S.B., Orenstein, W.A., O’Leary, S.T., Limaye, R.J., Salmon, D.A. (2020). Updated Evidence and Causality Assessment for 46 Adverse Events Following Immunization with Routinely Recommended Vaccines in the United States: A Systematic Review. The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Limaye, R.J., Sauer, M., Ali, J., Bernstein, J., Wahl, B.P., Barnhill, A., Labrique, A.B. (2020). Building trust while influencing online COVID-19 content in a socially mediated world. The Lancet Digital Health, 2(6), e277-e278.