WBS academic appointed to World Health Organization taskforce

The World Health Organization has appointed Warwick Business School’s Ivo Vlaev to its Technical Advisory Group on Behavioural Sciences for Better Health.

The Professor of Behavioural Science has been at the forefront of research on understanding decision-making and behaviour change to promote better health and wellbeing for many years.

The Technical Advisory Group (TAG) focuses on leveraging behavioural insights to design and implement effective health interventions. This includes strategies to encourage healthier lifestyles, improve patient adherence to medical treatments, and enhance public health communication.

Professor Vlaev, who teaches Behaviroual Sciences for the Manager across the School's MBA courses and Judgement and Decision-Making on the suite of MSc Business courses, said: "I am honoured to join the World Health Organization Technical Advisory Group on Behavioural Sciences for Better Health.

"This role provides a unique platform to apply behavioural science insights on a global scale, helping to shape policies and interventions that can improve health outcomes for millions of people."

The TAG includes top experts from various fields like psychology, behavioural economics, anthropology, and social marketing. They have vast experience in creating and implementing health policies, evaluating public health initiatives in low and middle-income countries, and managing behavioural insights units in organisations.

The group advises the World Health Organization (WHO) on how to systematically include behavioural evidence in its work and national health policies, with recommendations addressed to WHO's headquarters, regional, and country offices.

Professor Vlaev joins such behavioural science luminaries in the group as Cass Sunstein, Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard University, and co-author of the seminal book Nudge, which brought behavioural science to the masses, and Susan Michie, Professor of Health Psychology at UCL, who is part of the UK’s Policy Research Unit in Behavioural Sciences, advising the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care.

Professor Vlaev’s research has been instrumental in developing behaviour change interventions across various domains, including health and finance. Notably, Professor Vlaev co-authored the influential MINDSPACE report, which has guided policymakers in using behavioural insights to shape effective policies.

He was also a member of the UK National Health Service’s (NHS) COVID Behaviour Change Unit that provided evidence-based advice to help the country tackle the pandemic and he has worked extensively with the UK Cabinet Office’s Behavioural Insights Team or ‘Nudge Unit’ as it was more popularly known.

"Behavioural science offers powerful tools to address some of the most pressing health challenges we face today," said Professor Vlaev, who also lectures on Behavioural Economics on the Undergraduate programme. "It played a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic, showing that robust insights from the field can have a major impact in the fight against deadly diseases.

"The experience of working to fight a pandemic and many years of research mean I can now contribute on a global level. I look forward to collaborating with my colleagues at the WHO to develop innovative solutions that can make a real difference to people's lives."

Discover more about the School’s Change Makers.