Uptake & Confidence: Building Trust in Vaccination - Panel Discussion: Building Trust Across Generations

Nationality: British

Position: Professor, MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research

Research fields: Molecular biology of influenza viruses

ESWI member since 2015

Prof. Hutchinson received his PhD from the University of Cambridge and was then a postdoctoral scientist at the University of Oxford from 2009 – 2016. In 2016, he set up a research group at the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, where he is now Professor of Molecular and Cellular Virology.

Hutchinson’s research looks at the factors that make influenza and other respiratory viruses infectious, including the morphology and composition of virus particles, the way in which viruses interact and spread within the host and how these factors shape the course of a respiratory infection. He was named ‘Young Microbiologist of the Year’ by the Microbiology Society in 2007 and has held fellowships including a Junior Research Fellowship at Worcester College Oxford (2010 – 2014) and an MRC Career Development Award (2016 – 2021).

Hutchinson has an ongoing interest in science communication, winning the 2008 Biosciences Federation’s New Researcher Science Communication Award and the 2021 Microbiology Society’s Microbiology Outreach Prize, and in the training of postgraduate research students and early-career researchers. As well as being a member of ESWI since 2015, he sits on the Microbiology Society’s Virus Division and leads the Steering Group for the UK’s Influenza Update Meetings.

Nationality: Dutch

Position: Retired General Practitioner and vocational trainer, Amersfoort, The Netherlands

Research fields: Clinical aspects of influenza vaccination

ESWI member since 2001

Dr. van Essen became a General Practitioner in 1976 and Vocational Trainer in 1981 based in Amersfoort, the Netherlands. He was also Assistant Professor (since 1992) at the Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center, Utrecht. Dr Van Essen obtained his degree at the University of Groningen (M.D. and G.P.) and at Utrecht University where he received his Ph.D.

He is chair of the Dutch Immunisation Foundation. From 2000-2004, he was also the President of the Dutch College of General Practitioners. From 1996 to 2000 he was editor of Bijblijven, a Dutch CME-Journal.

Known on TV as Dr Ted, he is well known in The Netherlands for his work as a TV doctor, providing his medical insights for a wide and varied national audience. He was a member of the board of several leading healthcare institutions, including the Supervisory Board of Dimence, a large mental healthcare institution in Overijssel. 

Emilie Karafillakis is the lead for European Research at the Vaccine Confidence Project (VCP), with appointments at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine as well as at the University of Antwerp (European office of the VCP).

She has around 10 years of experience as a social scientist, working in international research and teaching in academia. In her position at the VCP, Emilie leads and contributes to social science, qualitative research, systematic literature reviews and digital analyses to explore confidence in vaccination among parents, adolescents and healthcare professionals and assess effective communication and community engagement strategies. Her research has focused on confidence in HPV vaccination, maternal vaccines as well as influenza and COVID-19 vaccines.

Nationality: British and Cypriot

Position: Family Physician. National Immunisation Lead Royal College of General Practitioners. President British Global & Travel Health Association.

Research Fields: Primary Care Vaccinations

Dr George Kassianos is a GP and the National Immunisation Lead of the Royal College of General Practitioners of which he is a Fellow. He is also President and Fellow of the British Global and Travel Health Association (BGTHA) and Fellow of the Faculty of Travel Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Glasgow (RCPSG), the International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM), the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), the British and Irish Hypertension Society (BIHS), The Academy of Medical Educators, and the Higher Education Academy.

Dr Kassianos is Chair of RAISE [Raise Awareness of Influenza Strategies in Europe], a Pan-European Group (20 countries) on influenza, and Board Member of the European Scientific Working Group on Influenza (ESWI). He has served as medical editor of four medical journals, currently serves on a number of editorial boards, and is Associate Editor (Primary Care) of ‘Drugs In Context’ international journal.

Dr Kassianos was the recipient of the Royal College of General Practitioners’ Foundation Council Award (2018), the most prestigious award for services to the College and General Practice.

In October 2020, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Dr Kassianos Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to General Practice and Travel Medicine.

With over 30 years of global leadership in health and ageing, Dr. Jane Barratt is a trusted voice at the intersection of policy, practice, and purpose. As the former Secretary General of the International Federation on Ageing, she has helped shape major international frameworks—from the WHO Immunization Agenda 2030 to the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing—always championing systems that respect and respond to the dignity of older people.

Today, Jane works at the leading edge of global health reform—advising institutions, convening bold conversations, and speaking around the world on what ageing truly demands of us.

Her work bridges silos. Her words move rooms. And her focus is unwavering: evidence, equity, and action.