Sc.D., Harvard School of Public Health
M.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Professor Thompson's research interests and teaching focus on the issues related to developing and applying quantitative methods for risk assessment and risk management, and consideration of the public policy implications associated with including uncertainty and variability in risk characterization. Drawing on a diverse background, she seeks to effectively integrate technological, social, political, legal, and economic issues into risk analyses that inform public policy and improve decision making in what she calls the "Age of Risk Management."

She created and directs the Kids Risk Project (http://www.kidsrisk.harvard.edu ), which aims to empower kids, parents, policy makers, and others to make better decisions when managing children's risks. This effort applies risk and decision analysis tools to highlight the value of informed decisions and it will ultimately lead to the development of appropriate risk models for children. This work builds on Professor Thompson’s long-standing interest in the issues related to variability in risk for sensitive sub-populations, particularly children, and the potential risk tradeoffs associated with policies designed to protect them. The work includes research on a range of children's risks including injury, environmental, medical, and product-related risks, as well as perception of children's risks and the portrayal of risky behaviors in popular entertainment media. In January 2003, Professor Thompson co-founded the Center on Media and Child Health at Children's Hospital Boston. At the first Kids Risk Symposium, Dr. Thompson released the first study of the Fortune 1000 companies aimed at assessing their commitments to children.

Professor Thompson continues to explore the implications of using different analytical tools for structuring information, a theme that is central to her teaching. She directs Probabilistic Risk Analysis: Assessment, Management, and Communication (http://www.pracourse.harvard.edu ), a Professional Education course that meets each fall at the Harvard School of Public Health. As the use of quantitative analysis continues to grow, Professor Thompson looks at how the type of analysis used (e.g., cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-benefit analysis, decision analysis, value-of-information analysis, risk-only or health-only analysis, etc.) influences and determines the policy outcome. Professor Thompson's work currently focuses heavily on system dynamics and dynamic modeling, particularly in the context of modeling policies for polio risk management after the success of global eradication.

See also:

New Analysis Says Eradicating Polio a Better Option Than Extended Control of the Disease -- press release of April 11, 2007 for news about a paper by K.M. Thompson and R.J. Duintjer Tebbens published in the The Lancet 2007; 369:1363-1371 

Billions of Dollars Saved in U.S. by Polio Vaccination -- press release of January 19, 2007 for news about a paper by K.M. Thompson and R.J. Duintjer Tebbens published in Risk Analysis 5(4) 2006;26(6):1423-1440 

Study Finds M-Rated Video Games Contain Violence, Sexual Themes, Substances, and Profanity Not Labeled on Game Boxes -- press release of April 3, 2006 for paper by K.M. Thompson, K. Tepichin, and K. Haninger published in the Journal of the American Medical Association 2006; 160:402-410

Study Finds “Ratings Creep”: Movie Ratings Categories Contain More Violence, Sex, Profanity than Decade Ago -- press release of July 13, 2004 for news about a paper by K.M. Thompson and F. Yokota published in Medscape General Medicine 6(3)

Teen-Rated Video Games Loaded With Violence -- press release of March 11, 2004 for news about a paper by K. Haninger, M.S. Ryan, and K.M. Thompson published in Medscape General Medicine 6(1) 

Ratings of Teen-Rated Video Games Do Not Always Fully Describe Content -- press release of February 17, 2004 for paper by K. Haninger and K.M. Thompson published in the Journal of the American Medical Association 291(7):856-86 

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Substances in G-rated Animated Feature Films -- press release of June 5, 2001 for a paper by K.M. Thompson and F. Yokota published in Pediatrics 107(6):1369-1374.

Study Quantifies Children's Mouthing of Objects -- press release of January 8, 2001 for a paper by D.R. Juberg, K. Alfano, R.J. Coughlin, and K.M. Thompson published in Pediatrics 107(1):135-142.

Violence in G-rated Animated Feature Films -- press release of May 23, 2000 for a paper by F. Yokota and K.M. Thompson published in the Journal of the American Medical Association 283(20):2716-2720.

Besides publications mentioned in the press releases above, see also:

L.E. Nigrovic and K.M. Thompson 2007. "The Lyme vaccine: A cautionary tale." Epidemiology and Infection. 2007; 135(1):1-8. 

K.M. Thompson. "Poliomyelitis and the role of risk analysis in global infectious disease policy and management." Risk Analysis 2006; 26(6)1419-1421 and multiple other articles in the Special Issue on Polio Risk Management.

K.M. Thompson. "Addicted media: Substances on screen." Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America 2005; 14:473-489.

G. Ko, K.M. Thompson, and E.A. Nardell. "Estimation of Tuberculosis Risk on a Commercial Airliner." Risk Analysis 2004; 24(2):379-387.

F. Yokota, K.M. Thompson. "Value of Information Literature Analysis (VOILA): A Review of Applications in Health Risk Management." Medical Decision Making 2004; 24(3):287-298, and F. Yokota, K.M. Thompson. "Value of Information Analysis in Environmental Health Risk Management Decisions: Past, Present, and Future." Risk Analysis 2004; 24(3):635-650.

N.K. Sangrujee, R.J. Duintjer Tebbens, V.M. Cáceres, and K.M. Thompson. "Policy Decision Options During the first Five Years Following Certification of Polio Eradication." Medscape General Medicine 2003; 5(4).

K.M. Thompson. "Variability and uncertainty meet risk management and risk communication." Risk Analysis. 2002; 22(3):647-654.

K.M. Thompson, R.F. Rabouw, and R.M. Cooke. "The risk of groundling fatalities from airplanes." Risk Analysis. 2001; 21(6):1025-1037. (pdf)

Dr. Thompson's complete CV (pdf file)

Kids Risk Project - Professor Kimberly M. Thompson initiated the Kids Risk Project in January 2000 with the goal of improving the lives of children by using analytical methods to characterize children's risks and strategies to reduce those risks.

Probabilistic Risk Analysis Course - Every fall Professor Thompson Directs a 4-day intensive Professional Education Course on Probabilistic Risk Analysis: Assessment, Management, and Communication

Health Insight - The Health Insight project focused on empowering consumers to take charge of their health. It developed a practical consumer's guide with 10 questions to ask about health information that now appears in Dr. Thompson's book called Risk in Perspective: Insight and Humor in the Age of Risk Management.

Age of Risk Management - The Age of Risk Management web site provides access to all of Dr. Thompson's web sites.

Creator and Director, Kids Risk Project

Associate Professor of Risk Analysis and Decision Science (Pediatrics), Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School

Co-Founder, Center on Media and Child Health, Children's Hospital Boston