Odette Wegwarth

Odette Wegwarth is a Professor at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development. Her work focuses on medical risk literacy, evidence-based decision making, and fast-and-frugal decision support tools, addressing critical issues like defensive decision making and conflicts of interest in medicine.

• PhD in Psychology (2007), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
• Habilitation in Medical Sociology (2015), Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Her research bridges health communication and cognitive psychology, examining how statistical illiteracy affects clinical decisions and patient outcomes. Recent projects include evaluating interactive simulation tools for vaccine-hesitant populations and analyzing privacy-utility trade-offs in health data donation.

She has received prestigious awards such as the Heisenberg Professorship (DFG, 2020) and appointments as a WHO expert (2021, 2019). Current grants include European Union Horizon Europe and German Research Foundation (DFG) funding for projects like 'Yellow4Flavi' and 'ERONA', emphasizing transparency in medical communication and preventive health strategies.

Her leadership in infodemic management and cancer prevention (e.g., FORECEE project) underscores her commitment to empowering patients and practitioners through evidence-based tools and ethical risk communication frameworks.