Assistant Professor
he/him/his
Areas of expertise: Health Policy, Public Opinion, Science Communication, Misinformation, Survey Methods
Matt Motta is an Assistant Professor of Health Law, Policy, & Management at Boston University’s School of Public Health.
His research focuses on a wide range of topics related to American politics, public opinion, science communication, and both health and environmental policy. He is especially interested in identifying the social and political determinants of anti-science attitudes, and investigating their health policy impact. He is also broadly interested in designing communication strategies that promote effective engagement between the public and the scientific community on politically contentious issues. His forthcoming book Anti-Scientific Americans (Oxford University Press, 2024) explores the prevalence, origins, and consequences of anti-intellectualism in the United States, and is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.
His research has been published in academic journals across the social and medical sciences (e.g., American Journal of Public Health, Social Science & Medicine, Vaccine, Nature Climate Change, Scientific Reports), and featured in popular press outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, Scientific American, PBS Newshour, and the CBS Evening News.
As part of his research activities, he also conducts public health opinion research as a Research Fellow at the Policy Lab at Brown University, and pilots health communication campaign strategies as Affiliated Faculty with Harvard’s TH Chan School of Public Health.
He is a political analyst for Spectrum News, and regularly comments on both his research and current events for print and television outlets. He is available for commentary on both local and national politics (including, but not limited to, discussions health politics and policy).