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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.

Understanding HIV Vaccine Misinformation and Vaccine Intentions Among Young Women in South Africa: Insights from an Online Survey

AIDS and Behavior
April 21, 2026
Brendan Maughan-Brown, Teniola I. Egbe, Simamkele Bokolo, Megan Rabin, Candice Chetty-Makkan, Melanie Kornides, Lawrence Long, Sophie Pascoe, Sarah Penuela-Wermers, Sander van der Linden, Harsha Thirumurthy, Alison M. Buttenheim

Hazardous alcohol use is associated with sexual behaviors that increase risk for HIV acquisition among fishermen in a high HIV prevalence area of Kenya

AIDS Care
March 17, 2026
Sarah A. Gutin, Holly Nishimura, Benard Ayieko, Lila A. Sheira, Zachary A. Kwena, Jayne Lewis-Kulzer, Elizabeth A. Bukusi, Harsha Thirumurthy, Edwin D. Charlebois, Carol S. Camlin

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

Point-of-sale sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) warning posters vs. control posters were associated with reductions in school store SSB purchases made by Guatemalan adolescents

Public Health Nutrition
January 2, 2026
Violeta Chacón, Joaquín Barnoya, Laura A. Gibson, Sophia Mus, José Carlos Monzón Fuentes, Alisa Stephens, Marsha Trego, Caitlin Lowery, Christina D. Economos, Alison Tovar, Sara Folta, Christina A. Roberto

“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

Twitter reveals spatio-temporal variation in vaccine concerns in Sub-Saharan Africa

Preprint
October 20, 2025
Devansh Jain, Sunny Rai, Juhi Mittal, Anietie Andy, Alison M. Buttenheim, Sharath Chandra Guntuku

“I wish someone else could notify the partner”: Barriers to STI partner notification identified and experienced by young women and health care workers in Cape Town, South Africa

Frontiers
September 8, 2025
Fiona Bennin; Siyaxolisa Sindelo; Nomsa B. Mahlalela; Alison Buttenheim; Teniola Egbe; Prisca Vundhla; Pamela Fuzile; Mbali Jonas; Preethi Mistri; Brendan Maughan-Brown; Elzette Rousseau

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