Professor Andrew Chadwick
Principal Investigator
Andrew Chadwick is Professor of Political Communication in the Department of Communication and Media at Loughborough University. He was Director of the Online Civic Culture Centre (O3C), which ran from 2018–2025.
Professor Cristian Vaccari
Co-Investigator
Cristian Vaccari is a Chair in Future Governance, Public Policy and Technology at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, University of Edinburgh.
Dr Natalie-Anne Hall
Postdoctoral Research Associate, 2021–2024
Dr Natalie-Anne Hall holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Manchester, an MSc in Social Science Research Methods (Sociology) from the University of Bristol, and an MA in International Development from Nagoya University. Her interest lies in the sociology of political social media use, and she has conducted research into topics such as the Facebook use of Brexit supporters and RT UK’s audience on Facebook.
Dr Portia Akolgo
Doctoral Research Assistant, 2023-2024
Portia holds a PhD in Economics from Loughborough University Business School. With a multi-disciplinary background in Economics, Finance, and Accounting, she also holds a master’s degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Southampton. A quantitative social scientist, Portia’s main research focuses on the gender gap in financial access, and the impact of exogenous shocks on firm productivity and economic development. She is an active member of the Royal Economic Society.
Dr Brendan Lawson
Postdoctoral Researcher, 2021–2023
Dr Lawson holds a PhD in Media and Communication from the University of Leeds, and Masters Degrees from the University of Leeds and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. His research examines the impact of the communication of numbers by politicians, journalists and experts. He was a Postdoctoral Research Associate on the Everyday Misinformation Project and is now a Lecturer in Communication and Media at Loughborough University.
The Everyday Misinformation Project 