About Us
Who we are
Our mission
Vaccination Conversations with Scientists (VaCS) connects scientist and student volunteers with community members to help people make informed decisions regarding vaccination. We focus on having productive conversations and dialogue centered on the science behind vaccines, building back trust in vaccines and in science.
Additionally, VaCS trains our volunteers to talk about vaccines with all audiences, honing their science communication skills and providing invaluable hands-on experience to volunteers who are current and future science and healthcare professionals.
Based in Ithaca, NY
Our main organization coordinates training and events in the greater Ithaca, NY community. At Cornell University, we have an undergraduate student club, VaCS-Cornell Student Chapter, that organizes vaccine education events on campus.
If you would like to start a branch of VaCS in your local community or university, contact us.
How we got started
In 2021, when the COVID-19 vaccines had first become available, Cornell PhD student Kara Fikrig was frustrated with reports of low vaccine uptake and abundant misinformation about vaccines. She recruited fellow graduate students, including current director Kara Rode Webber, to start VaCS as an initiative of the Cornell Advancing Science and Policy Club. Over the years, dozens of scientists, students, and faculty have volunteered to host informational sessions, talk to people at community events, and reach people in their homes via phone banking.
In 2025, VaCS transitioned to become a non-profit initiative through the Center for Transformative Action, in order to continue our vaccine outreach in a sustainable way and expand our reach further.
