Maike Winters

Maike Winters

Affiliated to research

About me

In my research, I combine my background in journalism and communication with global health and epidemiology. My research focusses on the role of risk communication and misinformation in infectious disease outbreaks - for instance the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Apart from my work at KI, I am Chief Ignorance Hunter at the Gapminder Foundation. I help to develop and test new fact questions around global trends, hunting topics where chimpanzees outsmart humans.

Research description

Publications 

Debunking highly prevalent health misinformation using audio dramas delivered by WhatsApp: evidence from a randomised controlled trial in Sierra Leone Winters M, Oppenheim B, Sengeh P, Jalloh MB, Webber N, Pratt SA, Leigh B, Mölsted-Alvesson H, Zeebari Z, Sundberg CJ, Jalloh MF, Nordenstedt H. BMJ Global Health, 2021;6:e006954

Behaviour adoption approaches during public health emergencies: implications for the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond Jalloh MF, Nur AA, Nur SA, Winters M, Bedson J, Pedi D, Prybylski D, Namageyo-Funa A, Hageman KM, Baker BJ, Jalloh MB, Eng E, Nordenstedt H, Hakim AJ. BMJ Global Health, 2021;6:e004450 

Engaging religious leaders to promote safe burial practices during the 2014-2015 Ebola virus disease outbreak, Sierra Leone Lyons P, Winters M, Zeebari Z, Schmidt-Hellerau K, Sengeh P, Jalloh MB, Jalloh MF, Nordenstedt H.  Bulletin of the WHO, 2021;99(4):271-279

Risk perception during the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone  Winters M, Jalloh MF, Sengeh P, Jalloh MB, Zeebari Z, Nordenstedt H. BMC Public Health, 2020;20:1539

Community knowledge, perceptions and practices around COVID-19 in Sierra Leone: a nationwide, cross-sectional survey Sengeh P, Jalloh MB, Webber N, Ngobeh I, Samba T, Thomas H, Nordenstedt H, Winters MBMJ Open, 2020;10:e040328

Homecare for sick family members while waiting for medical help during the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone: a mixed methods study  Schmidt-Hellerau K, Winters M, Lyons P, Leigh B, Jalloh MB, Sengeh P, Sawaneh AB, Zeebari Z, Salazar M, Jalloh MF, Nordenstedt H.  BMJ Global Health, 2020;5:e002732

Creating misinformation: how a headline in BMJ about covid-19 spread virally  Winters M, Oppenheim B, Pick J, Nordenstedt H.  BMJ, 2020;369:m2384

Reporting in a health emergency: The roles of Sierra Leonean journalists during the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak Winters M, Nordenstedt H, Mölsted Alvesson H PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2020: 14(5): e0008256

Ebola: global commitment for local engagement needed Winters M, Nordenstedt H European Journal of Public Health, 2019;5:807

The association between quality measures of medical university press releases and their corresponding news stories—Important information missing Winters M, Larsson A, Kowalski J, Sundberg CJ PLOS ONE 2019;14(6):e0217295

Risk Communication and Ebola-Specific Knowledge and Behaviour during 2014-2015 Outbreak, Sierra Leone Winters M, Jalloh MF, Sengeh P, Jalloh MB, Conteh L, Bunnell R, Li W, Zeebari Z, Nordenstedt H.  Emerging Infectious Diseases 2018;24(2):336-344