Research Symposium

BIO

Claire Mowry is a first-year student from Ocala, Florida, majoring in Biological Sciences on a pre-med track. She is honored to be a member of FSU’s Honors Program. Her interests include learning about public health, vaccine hesitancy, and women’s health research. Through UROP, Claire has learned research skills, how to use various databases, and analytical skills. Additionally, she is actively involved on campus through the American Medical Student Association, Best Buddies, and Noles In Med. After graduation, she plans on attending medical school.

Knowledge and Attitudes about Vaccines & HPV in the United States

Abstract

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted infection (Mayo Clinic Staff). Gardasil is a vaccine administered to people over the age of nine to help prevent HPV (Mayo Clinic Staff). Multiple doses are recommended to protect against various symptoms of HPV, including cervical, mouth, throat, and head cancers (Mayo Clinic Staff). The purpose of this research was to investigate attitudes towards vaccines in the recent past. The research conducted took place in two stages: 1) analyzing broad sources of information related to attitudes towards vaccines, and 2) narrowing down past research collected to find a specific focus in vaccine research. Methods included reading two books (Anti-Vax and Vaccine Nation), conducting a literature review using PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Scopus, and then analyzing the resulting studies. To find these articles, the key phrases were used: "HPV vaccine hesitancy," "college-aged women," and "HPV attitudes." From that, the focus was narrowed to a more specific research topic that aligned with Dr. Gabriel's research interest. Findings were drawn from surveys, readings, and analysis of scholarly articles. This research contributes to a broader understanding of attitudes toward vaccines and is a part of a larger project with potential public impact. Future ideas for this project could involve surveying college-aged women to assess their knowledge and attitudes towards the HPV vaccine.

Keywords: Vaccines, HPV, Public Health