Dimitra Dimitrakopoulou

Head of Translational Research
  • MIT Center for Constructive Communication

Dimitra Dimitrakopoulou is Assistant Professor of Journalism and Marie Curie Global Fellow with a joint visiting appointment in the Laboratory for Social Machines, MIT Media Lab and the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Her research interests sit at the critical intersection of technology, journalism and social media. With a focus on community-powered storytelling, she models new practices of facilitated dialogues on polarizing topics with a vision to establish engaging trust-centered networks among all parts of a community. In her current study, she tunes in people’s lived experiences as a means of understanding hopes and concerns around the COVID-19 vaccine and exploring their trust in media and social institutions. The objective of the study is to gain insights into the kind of information and data that are most valued and needed to support an informed decision on vaccination. Her research is funded by the European Commission under Horizon 2020, European Union’s flagship initiative for Research & Innovation.