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Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE)
  1. Research

Publications

Take a look at CHIBE’s publications, which are helping advance the science of using behavioral economics to improve health and leading to discoveries around how our minds work.

Unconditional cash transfers to improve health behaviors among primary care patients: a qualitative sub-study of a randomized clinical trial

Social Science & Medicine
March 1, 2026
Laura A Gibson, Aaron Richterman, Aaliyah Randall, Jonathan Muruako, Beth Uzwiak, Eva Fabian, Harsha Thirumurthy, Christina A Roberto

Characterising concerns and misinformation shaping global HIV vaccine confidence and demand: a structured literature search and content analysis

BMJ Global Health
January 8, 2026
Simamkele Bokolo, Megan Rabin, Sarah Penuela-Wermers, Candice Maylene Chetty-Makkan, Teniola I. Egbe, Harsha Thirumurthy, Brendan Maughan-Brown, Alison Buttenheim

Effectiveness of Financial Incentives for Health Behavior Change: A Narrative Review and Analysis

Annual Review of Public Health
December 23, 2025
Karen Glanz, Harsha Thirumurthy, and Natasha Agnes D'cruze

“You could hear their breathing slow down”: insights on a video-based psychosocial support intervention to increase HIV treatment uptake and improve psychosocial well-being among men living with HIV in South Africa

AIDS Care
December 21, 2025
Brendan Maughan-Brown, Mamaswatsi Kopeka, Harsha Thirumurthy, Alison Buttenheim, Mark Lurie, Elzette Rousseau, Philip Smith, Linda-Gail Bekker & Abigail Harrison

The effects of government-led cash transfer programmes on behavioural and health determinants of mortality: a difference-in-differences study

The Lancet
November 10, 2025
Aaron Richterman, MD; Tra-My Ngoc Bùi, BA; Elizabeth F Bair, MS; Gregory Jerome, MD; Christophe Millien, MD; Jean Christophe Dimitri Suffrin, MMSc; Prof Jere R Behrman, PhD; Prof Harsha Thirumurthy, PhD

Money, Medicine, and Motherhood: Developing a Cash Transfer for Pregnant Women with HIV in Rural Haiti

AIDS and Behavior
November 6, 2025
Aaron Richterman, Sindy Desire, Wendel Blaise, Elyse Derose, Alexis Moise, Lisa P Ward, Christophe Millien, Harsha Thirumurthy, Florence Momplaisir, Louise C Ivers

Behaviourally-Informed Two-Way Text Messaging to Improve Return to HIV Care in South Africa: Evidence from a Randomised Controlled Trial

AIDS and Behavior
July 11, 2025
Christine Njuguna, Preethi Mistri, Lawrence Long, Candice Chetty-Makkan, Brendan Maughan-Brown, Alison Buttenheim, Laura Schmucker, Sophie Pascoe, Harsha Thirumurthy, Cara O'Connor, Barry Mutasa, Kate Rees

Does home-based screening improve hypertension diagnosis, treatment and control? A regression discontinuity analysis in urban India

BMJ Global Health
June 13, 2025
Michaela Theilmann, Sneha Sarah Mani, Pascal Geldsetzer, Shivani A Patel, Mohammed K Ali, Harsha Thirumurthy, K M Venkat Narayan, Viswanathan Mohan, Nikhil Tandon, Dorairaj Prabhakaran, Nikkil Sudharsanan

The health dividend of cash transfer programmes

The Lancet
May 29, 2025
Aaron Richterman, Brendan Maughan-Brownd, Harsha Thirumurthy

High mortality among fishermen along the beaches of lake Victoria: secondary analysis of evidence from a randomized control trial to promote HIV testing and services uptake in Siaya County, Kenya

BMC Public Health
May 2, 2025
Kawango Agot, Benard O. Ayieko, Lila A. Sheira, Carol S. Camlin, Jayne Kulzer, Harsha Thirumurthy, Phoebe Olugo, Edwin D. Charlebois & Zachary Kwena

The effect of a social network-based intervention to promote HIV testing and linkage to HIV services among fishermen in Kenya: a cluster-randomised trial

The Lancet Global Health
April 1, 2025
Carol S Camlin, Lila A Sheira, Zachary A Kwena, Edwin D Charlebois, Kawango Agot, James Moody, Benard Ayieko, Sarah A Gutin, Antony Ochung, Phoebe Olugo, Jayne Lewis-Kulzer, Holly Nishimura, Monica Gandhi, Elizabeth A Bukusi, Harsha Thirumurthy

Diet-focused behavioral interventions to reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries: A scoping review of existing evidence

Obesity Reviews
March 24, 2025
Averi Chakrabarti, Nathan Ellermeier, Arpita Tripathi, Harsha Thirumurthy, Rachel Nugent

Jitegemee (rely on yourself): a cross-sectional study on acceptability, feasibility and design considerations for a personal savings intervention to reduce HIV risk among female sex workers in Siaya County, Kenya

BMJ Open
February 16, 2025
Kawango Agot, Nicky Okeyo, Jacob Onyango, Marylyn Ochillo, Gift-Noelle Wango, Moraa Arasa, Timothy Okello, Olivia Okumu, Shantana Carol, Bernard Ayieko, Harsha Thirumurthy

The effect of a social network-based intervention on adherence to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis and HIV viral suppression among Kenyan fishermen

AIDS
February 13, 2025
Lila A. Sheira, Zachary A. Kwena, Benard Ayieko, Edwin D. Charlebois, Kawango Agot, Sarah A. Gutin, Jayne Lewis-Kulzer, Phoebe Olugo, Monica Gandhi, Elizabeth A. Bukusi, Harsha Thirumurthy, Daniel Adede, James Moody, Carol S. Camlin

B-OK: A Visual and Tactile Tool for HIV Treatment Adherence Support in a United States Urban Center

AIDS Care
February 4, 2025
Aaron Richterman, Tamar Klaiman, Daniel Palma, Eric Ryu, Laura Schmucker, Katherine Villarin, Gabrielle Grosso, Kathleen A Brady, Harsha Thirumurthy, Alison Buttenheim

Alcohol use and HIV suppression after completion of financial incentives for alcohol abstinence and isoniazid adherence: a randomized controlled trial

eClinicalMedicine
February 1, 2025
Winnie R. Muyindike, Robin Fatch, Sara Lodi, Nneka I. Emenyonu, Allen Kekibiina, Julian Adong, Brian Beesiga, Kara Marson, Harsha Thirumurthy, Michael G. McDonell, Moses R. Kamya, Gabriel Chamie, Judith A. Hahn