• Curriculum Vitae [PDF]

Welcome! I am an Assistant Professor of Health Law, Policy, & Management at Boston University’s School of Public Health.

Previously, I was Assistant Professor of Political Science (American Politics, Research Methods) at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK. Before that, I was a Science of Science Communication postdoctoral fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center (University of Pennsylvania). I was also based at the Yale Law School, where I was an affiliated postdoctoral scholar at the Cultural Cognition Project. I received my PhD in Political Science from the University of Minnesota, where I was also a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow and Doctoral Dissertation Fellow. 

​My research focuses on a wide range of topics related to American politics, public opinion, science communication, and both health and environmental policy. I am especially interested in identifying the social and political determinants of anti-science attitudes, and investigating their health policy impact. I am also broadly interested in designing communication strategies that promote effective engagement between the public and the scientific community on politically contentious issues.

As part of my research activities, I also conduct public health opinion research as a Research Fellow at the Policy Lab at Brown University, and piloting health communication campaign strategies as Affiliated Faculty with Harvard’s TH Chan School of Public Health.

Publications

Selected publications

• Motta, Matthew P & Dominik Stecula. (2023). “How Media Coverage Influences COVID-19 Vaccination Behavior: Assessing the Impact of Politicized COVID-19 Vaccine News on Vaccine Uptake.” Political Communication.

• Motta, Matthew P., Kristin Lunz-Trujillo, & Timothy Callaghan. (2023). “The CDC Won’t Let Me Be.” The Opinion Dynamics of Support for Health Agencies’ Regulatory Authority. Journal of Health Politics, Policy, & Law.

• Motta, Matthew P. (2024). Anti-scientific Americans: The Prevalence, Origins, and Political Consequences of Anti-intellectualism in the US. Oxford University Press.

• Motta, Matthew P., Gabriella Motta, & Dominik Stecula. (2023). “Sick as a Dog? The Prevalence, Correlates, and Health Policy Consequences of Canine Vaccine Hesitancy (CVH)” Vaccine

• Motta, Matthew P., Yuning Liu, & Amanda Yarnell. (2024). “Influencing the Influencers: A Field Experimental Approach to Promoting Effective Mental Health Communication on TikTok.” Scientific Reports.

• View more Publications Here