Events

09 May 2018

Uncovering the dynamics of multi-strain pathogens from serological data

Mathematical modeller and biostatistician, Associate Professor Adam Kucharski, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine will examine how mathematical models can aid our understanding disease transmission, enhance surveillance and assist with implementing measures for their control.

Outbreaks of infections such as influenza can generate a substantial disease burden. However, understanding the dynamics of these infections remains challenging, because individuals can be infected by multiple strains over the course of their lifetime, and infection with one strain may generate a cross-reactive immune response to related viruses.

Adam will present on recent work using mathematical models to estimate unobserved epidemiological and immunological dynamics from contemporary serological data. As well as looking at how these methods can provide insights into influenza dynamics, he will examine their broader applications to dengue and related flaviviruses.

Adam Kucharski is an Assistant Professor and Sir Henry Dale Fellow in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He is interested in how social behaviour and immunity shape disease transmission, and how knowledge of such processes can enhance surveillance and control measures. He worked on real-time modelling analysis during the 2013–16 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, and has also been involved in analysis of influenza, dengue fever and Zika outbreaks. From 2013–17 he held a Medical Research Council Career Development Award in Biostatistics, and prior to joining LSHTM he was a research associate at Imperial College London.